Two games into 2025, and the Capitals are looking like a completely different outfit than what we’ve seen in the first 12 games of the season. A spirited win in Adelaide on Friday night, followed by a dominant performance at home against Geelong on Sunday afternoon has the team in good spirits ahead of this weekend’s rematch against the Lightning.
Last Friday’s win snapped the Caps six-game losing streak, avenging a gut-wrenching loss in Adelaide in December – a game that the team feels like they let slip away. They carried over that momentum to overwhelm Geelong at the AIS Arena, putting together perhaps their best overall game of the season.
During this current two-game winning streak, the Caps have tapped into a level of shooting they haven’t been able to find all season. Against Adelaide, they made 10/24 three-pointers, and followed that up with a 10/19 showing against Geelong (where they shot just under 60% overall from the field).
Nicole Munger has been especially hot for the Caps – against Adelaide, she dropped 24 points on the back of 6/11 shooting from 3, and she followed that up by putting up a perfect shooting performance against Geelong (14 points on 4/4 fgs, 3/3 3ptm, 3/3ftm).
Charli Collier will also look to continue her mastery of the Adelaide defense. In the two games against Adelaide this season, Collier has averaged 26 points and 19 rebounds while shooting 58% from the field.
Captain Jade Melbourne will be suiting up after an injury scare in the 4th quarter of the game against Geelong. Backup big Ella Tofaeono however, will be out for the next 1-3 weeks with an MCL sprain, a key loss for the Caps as she has provided quality minutes at both the 4 and 5 spots for the Caps this season. Meg Jefferson will also be out for a few weeks, leaving the Caps extremely shorthanded in the frontcourt.
Enter Abby Bishop. The recently retired Australian basketball star is suiting up, having agreed to come back late this week to a three-game contract to shore up the team’s frontcourt depth.
“Coach Goriss and I had a chat as I needed to understand what he wanted out of me, as I’ve been out of basketball for the past few months. It’s obviously tough to come in at this point of the season, but I’m coming in just as another body to give some of the frontcourt players a breather and provide some extra leadership and experience for the group,” said Bishop.
The Lightning will be looking to bounce back and end their three-game losing streak, which have dropped them outside of the top 4. This is especially a crucial game for both squads, as the winner would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker in playoff seeding scenarios.
Adelaide will again look to rely on stars Issy Borlase and Steph Talbot, as well as Isabelle Bourne and Brianna Turner. Last week, Borlase and Bourne torched the Caps, combining for 54 points and 8 three-pointers. Borlase has relished her matchup against the Caps this season, averaging 23.5 points across the two games. She has used her size, strength and craftiness to repeatedly get into the paint and get buckets or draw fouls. Bourne bounced back from a poor first game to explode for a season high 29 points in the second meeting on the back of 6/9 shooting from deep.
The Lightning might also be getting back guard Japreece Dean for this Saturday’s match, which would be a big boost for the team. Dean missed the January 3 matchup as she was still recovering from surgery for a broken hand. The American point guard is third in the team in scoring at 12.7ppg and contributes 3.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
The Lightning are in the bottom two in the league in points per game, so if the Caps can continue to keep up their newfound offensive spark, they should be able to do enough to come away with this one. Adelaide will be desperate though, and will be looking to get back on the winning track. With only three losses separating teams 4 through 8 in the standings, every game takes extra significance with just over a month left in the season.
The UC Capitals face the Adelaide Lightning at the AIS Arena on Saturday 11 January. Tipoff is at 3:30pm. Get your tickets here. Kids tickets are 50% off at all January home games using the code KIDS50.
