A RED-HOT start to their first match of the 2025/26 Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) helped the UC Capitals to their opening win of the fixture, defeating the Southside Flyers by nine points in Round 1.

In front of over 4000 fans at John Cain Arena on Saturday afternoon, Sara Blicavs starred in her first game in more than 500 days, showing no signs of slowing down and led her side to victory following spinal fusion and disc replacement surgery in March of last year.

The Capitals’ win was the perfect way to start the season, and was built on the back of a blistering start to the contest, where the visitors got the upper hand and never allowed the Flyers to regain any of the momentum within the match.

Southside Flyers (71) def. by UC Capitals (80)

Both teams were admittedly slow to get going in the first couple of minutes of play, with the rust of the offseason still prominent at John Cain Arena. However, the Capitals began to find their rhythm offensively, as Jade Melbourne began to play a crucial part in proceedings with some impressive makes when baskets were hard to come by.

A pair of triples from Blicavs gave the Capitals some handy breathing space, and put the pressure back on the Flyers on their home court. Canberra was performing strongly defensively too, forcing Southside into some long, low-percentage shots that rarely paid off, and as a result, the Capitals held an impressive eight-point buffer at the first change.

Defence continued to be a strong weapon for the Capitals in the second frame, as the visitors began to force the Flyers into some unnecessary turnovers, which resulted in transition baskets the other way. At the main break, Canberra boasted a 10-point lead and was fully in control of the match after 20 minutes of play.

The Capitals continued on their rampage in the third quarter, scoring 11 unanswered points at one stage to show they were clearly superior in terms of offensive production. The Flyers lacked the firepower to match it down the other end, although they steadied as the quarter rolled on, to keep the margin at 10 points with a quarter to play.

Southside showed some sort of fight in the final quarter, impressing with its best period of offence, as Akiene-Tera Reed and Isabelle Bourne did a lot of the heavy lifting. However, the Capitals did enough to hold off the home side, and produce a fantastic nine-point win on the road.

Blicavs did not miss a beat upon her return to the WNBL, finishing the match with a team-high 19 points (4/8 FG, 3/5 3PT) and nine rebounds in a magnificent comeback game despite some huge injury troubles. Nyadiew Puoch was excellent with 16 points of her own, while Melbourne and Kadiatou Sissoko both poured in 15 points.

Reed continued to try and produce some offence for her side, finishing with 22 points, which was the most of any player in the game, while Bourne was not far behind with 18 points as the pair tried to lift their team towards victory.