Every week, ESPN's Megan Hustwaite brings together the stories that have caught her eye across the WNBL.
Megs' notebook
Redemption for Melbourne
Olympian Jade Melbourne and her UC Capitals are chasing redemption in what shapes as a season-defining Round 4 of WNBL26. After stunning Southside on the first day of the season, the Caps were hammered by Townsville and lost to Adelaide last week and now face Sydney (Thursday) then Bendigo (Saturday) in a bid to get their campaign and quest for a finals berth, for the first time since 2021-22, back on track.
Co-captain Melbourne described the road trip that awaits as 'super important'.
"We still haven't shown the league who we are yet as a team," she said. "In Round 1, everyone's nervous and it's kind of a game you want to get out of the way and our two tests since, we haven't been our best so it's all about redemption.
"We've had a great few trainings this week before getting up to Sydney and I think it'll be good for us to go on the road, have some fun while we're travelling, we've got a team dinner Wednesday night.
"It's just about getting back to us, taking the pressure off that we have to be good and going out there and playing. Once we get back to that and show the league who we are and if we can get back to playing Caps basketball and the identity we created pre-season it'll be huge moving forward."
Stars' wings clipped
The league injury list is lengthy heading just a month into the season with a host of champions and medal-winning Opals sidelined. Ally Wilson was set to have scans on her nose on Wednesday after landing on it in Tuesday night's loss to Townsville. Wilson, who marked her 250th game in Round 3, could be set to don a face mask as the likes of Miela Sowah, Bec Cole and Jenni Screen have done before her.
Reigning champs Bendigo was awaiting scans on the foot of spark plug Casey Samuels while point guard Micah Simpson is in a sling. Both missed last Sunday's win over Sydney. It's never good news when the injury replacement is injured herself and that's the case at Townsville where Chantel Horvat, cover for Saffron Shiels, is nursing a broken wrist.
Geelong import Alissa Pili told ESPN at half time of Geelong's clash with Perth that she was still six weeks away from returning from an ankle injury, which required surgery, sustained in the opening round.
Opals watch -- Round 3
Isobel Borlase (Spirit): 26 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists vs. Flames
Cayla George (Flyers): 26 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists vs. Fire
Miela Sowah (Fire): 26 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists vs. Lynx
Courtney Woods (Fire): 23 points, 9 rebounds vs. Flyers
Steph Talbot (Lightning): 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists vs. Caps
Marianna Tolo (Spirit): 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists vs. Flames
Alex Fowler (Fire): 16 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists vs. Perth
Game of the week -- Round 4
Sydney Flames vs. UC Capitals
Quay Centre, Thursday, November 6 -- 7pm
If there is such a thing as a crunch game four weeks into the season then this is it. Both teams won in Round 1 but have slumped in the past fortnight with consecutive losses -- two on the trot for the Caps and three for the Flames.
Selfless and a facilitator Jade Melbourne is but the Caps need her scoring more than the three points she had in the loss to the Lightning and she needs Sara Blicavs, Kadi Sissoko and Nyadiew Puoch to all join her in double figures.
Lauren Nicholson is second in the league for points (24.0) and her output shouldn't be underestimated, but rather celebrated, just months postpartum. Unique Thompson has shown she is more than capable at the level. When the going gets tough the tough get going, so expect Keely Froling to impact at both ends.
Sportswoman like
Nearly 35 years after making her debut in the league as a player, Kerryn Mitchell notched her first win as a WNBL head coach on Saturday.
Mitchell, nee Owens, debuted for Nunawading as a teenager and went on to play for and captain Canberra before eventually embarking on a coaching journey which featured state, club and representative duties, NBL1 and a WNBL title in 2023-24 with Southside as an assistant. The Lightning were on the brink before she was appointed mid-year, they lost their young Olympian in Isobel Borlase and Mitchell has quickly built a roster, that while inexperienced at the level, has heart and plays hard.
Of the 8 clubs, just two coaches are female -- Mitchell and four-time Olympic medallist Kristi Harrower -- and that's one of the most pressing issues the league faces and has faced for some time particularly following the exit of young coaches Kristen Veal and Nat Hurst in recent seasons.
Fixtures
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6
Sydney Uni Flames vs. UC Capitals
Quaycentre, 7pm (AEDT)
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7
Geelong vs. Townsville
Geelong Arena, 5:30pm (AEDT)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8
Bendigo Spirit vs. UC Capitals
Red Energy Arena, 7:00pm (AEDT)
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9
Adelaide Lightning vs. Sydney Uni Flames
SA State Basketball Centre, 12:30pm (AEDT)
Perth Lynx vs. Southside
Perth High Performance Centre, 6:30pm (AEDT)
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11
Geelong vs. Perth Lynx
Geelong Arena, 7:00pm (AEDT)
Watch every game LIVE on Disney+
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