UC Capitals Game Preview: Round 14 vs Sydney Flames

January 28, 2025 | UC Capitals news

The UC Capitals will play their most important game of their season to date when they take on the Sydney Flames at home this Thursday. A critical 94-79 win over Southside Flyers last Saturday put the Caps back in a strong position to push for their first playoff appearance since the 2021-22 season. 

Captain Jade Melbourne put in her best performance of the season to date, putting up 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a triple double that saw her awarded WNBL Player of the Week honours. Mon Bobongie also had a huge night with 17 points while Indi Bowyer showed her continued improvement with 15. 

Inspired 17-point efforts by both Manny Puoch and Dallas Loughridge as well as a double-double to Alic Kunek went in vain for Southside, as they slipped to a 10th straight defeat in the competition. 

The win for the Capitals has catapulted the team into 5th position on the table, tied for wins with the 4th place Flames. It means that the winner of the match at the AIS this Thursday will take a huge step towards cementing a spot in the WNBL playoffs.  

Coming off the back of a strong December, Sydney have struggled in recent weeks recording just one win in their past six matches. Their most recent match was a 105-83 loss to the Perth Lynx at home last Saturday. Their form is the opposition of the Capitals, who have turned a corner by winning four of their last five. 

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 03: Cayla George of the Flames drives to the basket during the round one WNBL match between Sydney Flames and Canberra Capitals at Qudos Bank Arena, on November 03, 2024, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

The Capitals and Flames have only faced each other once this season, all the way back in Round One. Sydney started fast, shooting their way to a 14-point lead at the end of the first quarter. From there the Caps were always playing catch up, and couldn’t reel in the deficit, eventually falling 102-85. Jade Melbourne and Nicole Munger put in great efforts but a dominant 25-point display by Mikala Ruef was too much to overcome. 

Former UC Capitals player Shaneice Swain will be the main point of focus for the Capitals this week. The guard has been critical for the Flames offence this season, averaging 17.5 points per game (3rd highest in the WNBL) as well as 3.3 three-pointers per game (1st in WNBL). It was only two weeks ago that Swain recorded a monstrous career-high of 40 points against the Townsville Fire showing her dangerous game once she gets on a roll. 

However, the Flames do have some areas of concern to address heading into the highly important clash in Canberra. Sydney average 19.1 turnovers per game, which is first in the WNBL by some margin.  

Jade Melbourne will also be a major point of focus for the Flames as she continues her run of great form. Jade leads the league in assists per game with 7.2. It’s an aspect of her game she prides herself on, which she mentioned after the win against Southside Flyers over the weekend. 

“My favorite stat in the game is the assist. Getting my teammates involved, and in positions to be successful is what I want to do as a point guard. The gameplan was to push the tempo and create play so that suits my style of play.”  

Jade touched on the importance of preparation for the huge week ahead, with the game against Sydney immediately followed by an away clash against Geelong on Saturday. 

“One game at a time. We’re well aware that we have two big games this week. One against Sydney, one against Geelong. 

Sydney’s probably not a team that is going to pick us apart on their offense, it’s their individuals. Swainy (Shaneice Swain) just had a 40-piece and Cayla George killed us last time we played them. It’s just about honing into that, watching a heap of video this week and working smarter not harder.” 

The UC Capitals game against the Sydney Flames tips off at 6:30pm this Thursday, 30 January at the AIS. Tickets are available here. Last chance to get 50% off kids tickets using code KIDS50.