Brisbane, QLD. – The Brisbane Lady Capitals return to NAB Stadium this Saturday night for round 13 of the QBL against fellow Central Pool team, Sunshine Coast Phoenix Clippers.

The Lady Caps tipoff at 6.00pm at NAB Stadium.

TICKETS:

Tickets can be purchased in person at the door. Adults - $10.00; Children - $5.00; Capitals Junior players and staff – Free (with hard card). Remember to wear your Caps Gear!

 

THE CAPITALS (7^th, 7 – 7; 3 – 3 at home):

FG%: 39.5 | 3PT%: 29.9 | FT%: 72.3 | PPG: 75.1

Your Lady Caps look poised to secure a top-two finish in the Central Pool and another play-off appearance (third in five seasons). However, the Sunshine Coast Phoenix Clippers and Logan Thunder stand squarely in their way.

The Lady Caps split last weekend’s double-header with a valuable win at home v the Sunshine Coast RIP, before Gold Coast ended the Lady Caps five game winning streak with a road trip loss in a closely fought and high scoring battle.

Round 12 continued to see the Lady Caps establish their assertive and unrelenting defensive pressure against the RIP and the Rollers. At home, it took a little while for Brisbane to shake the much improved RIP, with teams heading into half-time with the Lady Caps holding a 38 – 28 lead. In the second half, once Brisbane had settled offensively, they were able to put together some exciting team play which led to 16 assists while forcing the RIP into 30 turnovers. The Lady Caps took the second half 44 – 23, and the game 82 – 51. Five Lady Caps scored in double-figures including Amy Lewis (16pts, 6rbs, 4stls), Ashton Eaton (15pts, 5rbs) and Stacey Howard (11pts, 6rbs) contributing to Mikaela Kings’ second double-double of the season (11pts, 11rbs). Rachel Mate continued to impact from the bench with a valuable 5pts, 5rbs and 4stls in just 11:30.

At the Gold Coast the next day, the Rollers were able to take a 39 – 51 half-time lead on the back of some extraordinary field goal shooting (59%). However, the Lady Caps continued to show their pluck in the face of adversity and initiated a third-quarter comeback 29 – 18, bringing the Rollers back down to earth with a 1pt lead (68 – 69) heading into the final quarter. Foul trouble proved the difference in the fourth-quarter for the Lady Caps with four players in foul trouble which led to Heidi Freeburn fouling out with just minutes left in the contest and the game very much in the balance. Gold Coast eventually took out the game 88 – 94. Former Australian Opal, Natalie Hurst shone for the Rollers with 25pts and 11asts with forwards Nadeen Payne (25pts, 7rbs, 4asts) and Bianca Abbott (19pts, 9rbs) in support. For the Lady Caps, Captain Amy Lewis led all scorers with a season high of 33pts, with Ashton Eaton adding 24.

 

ROUND 13 v #11 PHOENIX CLIPPERS (3 – 10; 2 – 5 on the road):

FG%: 38.1 | 3PT%: 33.3 | FT%: 68.3 | PPG: 69.1

The Lady Caps last met the Clippers on the road in round 8 of the QBL. Mikaela King (18pts, 8rbs) led all scorers for Brisbane with Heidi Freeburn (15pts, 5rbs, 3stls), Stacey Howard (season high 12pts), and team captain Amy Lewis securing her first double-double of the season (14pts, 11rbs). For the Clippers; Katarina Flasarova had 18pts, 7rbs, 6asts Kierra Mallard’s double-double including game high of 20pts and 13rbs Mel Bateman contributed 12pts and 5rbs.

Series Record: The Lady Caps lead 8 – 1 (4 – 0 at home) since 2012.

Last Meeting: The Lady Caps won, 81 – 65 in Round 8 of 2016 at the Maroochydore Basketball Stadium.

Notables: The Clippers hold opposition teams to 77.0ppg. The Clipper’s Kierra Mallard is one to watch, averaging a season double-double of 19.5ppg and 14.6rpg, Kierra also shoots beyond the arc at a 41.2% clip. In addition to Mallard’s perimeter shooting, the Clippers boast multiple perimeter threats with Katarina Flasarova (35.6%), Mel Bateman (35.7%), and Jennifer Carden-David (42.9%) all combining for an average of 6 three-point makes each game. Katarina Flasarova leads the Clippers with 4.2apg, to go along with her 17.3ppg and 4.6rpg.  

 

SBL Women: The Brisbane Capitals SBL Women’s team (7^th, 6 – 5, 3 – 2 at home) are back at home again this weekend, and host the Toowoomba Mountaineers (12^th, 2 – 8, 1 – 5 on the road) at NAB Stadium.

The SBL Lady Caps 3 – 2 home court record this season does not reflect the work this team has put in throughout the season with the two losses at home against top 5 teams being settled by 4pts or less. In round 1, the Lady Caps dropped a nail-biter (53 – 55) to last years’ runner up and current 5^th placed Gold Coast. The second home court loss (51 – 55) came at the hands of current 3^rd placed Northside.

Currently, Brisbane average 69.7ppg with a defensive margin of +10.9ppg, have put together a three-game winning streak heading into this weekend’s game and are looking to finish strong in the lead up to the play-offs.

Getting to know your SBL Lady Capitals: First year Brisbane SBL Lady Caps Head Coach, Andy Sobieszuk took the reins of a new-look Brisbane SBL Women’s Team after five of the team from last year’s amazing undefeated season were recruited to the Lady Caps QBL team. The subsequent rebuild has seen the inclusion of some of Brisbane’s exciting new local talent who, under the watchful eye of key seasoned SBL veterans Emily Bowden and Team Captain Brooke Schafer, have started to perform in their inaugural senior basketball season. The SBL Lady Capitals are led by QBL team member Mia Teubler’s 13.4ppg with strong support from fellow QBL Squad members Georgia McCarron (10.4ppg), Georgia Champion (8.4ppg) and Kayla Beverley (6.1ppg). Along with Kayla Beverley the Women’s SBL team also includes four other players who recently competed with the Brisbane Capitals in the Under 18 Representative season: Alice Bowden, Charlotte Renner, Lauryn Mapusua and Sophie Johnston.

Tipoff for the SBL Lady Capitals is scheduled for 2pm Saturday afternoon.