THE final round of the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL)’s 2021/22 season is set to keep rolling throughout the weekend, with a number of cracking contests of the cards. The schedule resumed on Thursday night, with the UC Capitals travelling west to take on the Adelaide Lightning at the Lights Community and Sports Centre in a clash between two of the top four sides. On the eve of the finals, the standings inside the top-four are far from sealed at this point, so this match carried plenty of significance moving forward.

The Capitals entered this clash at the top of the table after defeating the Lynx last weekend, while the Lightning were down in fourth. Despite these standings, the Lightning were able to produce a terrific performance for their home crowd (arguably their best of the year), as they dominated their opponents to take down the Capitals to the tune of a whopping 31 points, sending a message to the rest of the competition

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The Lightning were the dominant side for most of the match, winning three of the four quarters in pretty convincing fashion. They got out to a ripping start as their offence began to fire from the very first possession, and despite an impressive fightback from the Capitals in the second, were able to get back in control in the second half to cruise home to a massive victory against arguably the form team of the league. This will be massive for them heading into the finals, as they now have the confidence to take down any side they face in the postseason as they make a tilt toward the title.

Team Stats

The Lightning essentially dominated all of the key stats in their win over the Capitals and this was reflected on the scoreboard. Their biggest area of success came from their shooting, as they produced an extremely efficient performance when putting up shots. This was emphasised in their three-point percentage, as they made over half of their attempts from behind the arc in one of the most remarkable performances we gave seen this year. It did help that the Capitals struggled a lot from the field, but the home side made the most of this.

There is no doubt that this was one of the most impressive triumphs of the season, and it sets up a thrilling finals series in the coming weeks. Now that Adelaide have shown their ability in this clash, then there is no doubt that any side can win it all this season.