FOLLOWING back-to-back defeats to benchmark side Townsville Fire in Round 10, Sydney Flames returned to the victor’s column with a 30-point annihilation of UC Capitals. Travelling to AIS Arena in the first WNBL match post-Christmas, the Flames never gave their rivals a chance, coming away with a 91-61 thrashing and in the process started closing the gap to fourth spot.

Sydney Flames (91) def. UC Capitals (61)

Both sides were coming off losses in Round 10 heading into the match, with the Flames thrashed at home by the Fire (22 points), before following Townsville up to Far North Queensland and closing the gap to them in a five-point defeat. The Capitals had looked good in a four-point armwrestle over Geelong Venom on December 20, before a forgettable 26-point defeat at the hands of Perth Lynx.

Unfortunately for the Capitals, post-Christmas was not going to be any better than pre-Christmas, as they had to walk off the court 30 points in arrears to the Flames. The game was largely over before it began, with Sydney slamming home 26 points to nine in the first quarter – to open up a 17-point lead – before a further 24-16 second term tightened the screws and it as all over.

The Capitals fought on gamely in the third to reduce the gap to 21 heading into the final 10 minutes, but ultimately Sydney lit the flame again and ran out the stronger side with a 24-15 fourth stanza to come away with a convincing 91-61 triumph in front of more than 2300 fans.

Boasting a ridiculous 69.2 per cent efficiency from inside the arc and 38.1 per cent outside of it, the Flames quite literally caught fire on the offensive end, compared to their opponents who recorded a lowly 39.7 and 25 per cent respectively. Funnily enough they generated 10 less shots (60-70) but made 25 compared to 26 in the tale of the tape.

That was helped by a dominant performance off the boards as the Flames recorded 49 rebounds to the Capitals’ 27, with 39 of Sydney’s rebounds coming up the defensive end. It was equally a team effort, with five players recording four or or more rebounds, headlined by Unique Thompson (13 points, 10 rebounds) in 26 minutes.

The massive deficit between the sides enabled the Flames to rotate their players around, with Agnes Emma-Nnopu (31:50) the only player with more than 30 minutes on court. She had seven points and eight rebounds, while Keely Froling (11 points, four assists and three rebounds) was also lively.

Coming off the bench, the pair of Shaneice Swain (15 points, five assists and two steals) and Jessica McDowell-White (17 points, four rebounds and two assists) maximised their time on court, with just over 20 minutes each. Skipper Lauren Nicholson (14 points, five rebounds and two assists) naturally lead from the front, while Lara McSpadden picked up seven rebounds to go with six points.

It was much tougher to find positives on the other side of the ledger, though both Nyadiew Puoch (14 points, six rebounds and two assists) and captain Zitina Aokuso (!4 points, four assists and three rebounds) were admirable. Coming off the bench, Kadiatou Sissoko (10 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals) and Jayda Clark (nine points, three rebounds) also chipped in.

Sydney Flames will have the chance to make it two from two before the New Year in Round 11, hosting Southside Melbourne Flyers at Qudos Bank Arena on Tuesday, while UC Capitals will have an extended break until a home match against the Perth Lynx on January 4.