The Canberra Capitals have shot to WNBL title contention with an 87-82 win over Perth Lynx full of purpose and conviction on Sunday afternoon.
Just a week after knocking off the defending champions Townsville, the Capitals were greeted with a standing ovation from their biggest home crowd of the season, as they continued their march back up the ladder.
The top-of-the-table Lynx came to Tuggeranong Stadium possessing the league's most devastating shooting duo but a steely-eyed and concentrated defensive structure from the Capitals set the tone early.
Perth score more than any other team in the WNBL from beyond the arc but they could only convert one from six attempts in the first quarter.
That defensive focus slipped in the second and Carley Mijovic and Sami Whitcomb capitalised at the slightest openings for Perth, but Canberra's own sharp-shooter Carly Wilson was also on target.
Closer to the ring Marianna Tolo was her usual dominant self with 14 points in the first half and she was joined by her scoring partner Lauren Mansfield, who needed little encouragement to drive through the key.
Whitcomb was the difference early, contributing 22 points to Perth's 46-36 lead at the main break.
But a different Capitals outfit emerged after the break – they were fierce, their defence was electric and they scored at will, cutting the 10-point deficit to level the scores mid-way through the third term.
Jazmon Gwathmey led this resurgence, chiming in on both ends of the floor and suddenly the home crowd was on its feet.
Whitcomb continued to pile on points in the last quarter but Canberra answered each time, charging back up the court and seeing off a gallant Lynx in an entertaining and high-scoring game.
Co-captain Wilson said the players knew at half-time they had to lift and they responded.
"We weren't going out there and thinking we'll cut to score and get someone else open and when we started doing that in the second half it just changed the game completely," Wilson said.
"We turned a corner in that third quarter with our offence in that we were attacking the ring and doing things with more conviction."
Wilson said it was a sweet victory but they were determined to make it a regular showing from the new-look Capitals.
"This needs to be the way we play, it can't just be 'oh another huge win for us'," she said.
"No, it has to be that 'we're the Canberra Capitals, we've come to win, we're going to be in the top four and we're going to win these sort of games'."
WNBL ROUND 8
CANBERRA CAPITALS 87 (Marianna Tolo 25, Jazmon Gwathmey 15) bt PERTH LYNX 82 (Sami Whitcomb 36, Carley Mijovic 17) on Sunday at Tuggeranong Stadium. Crowd: 892.
