SOMETIMES even the greats get butterflies, but Lauren Jackson overcame early jitters on her return from injury to help the Canberra Capitals to a crucial 73-70 win in Adelaide yesterday.
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Playing her first match in 11 months and first in the WNBL since the 2009-10 grand final, Jackson came off the bench and racked up 13 points, including seven in the last quarter, five rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes to help spark a second-half Canberra fightback.
Down 41-29 late in the first half, the Capitals stormed home to improve their record to 5-7 before a crunch match against West Coast in Perth tonight.
While all eyes were on the star Australian Opals centre’s return, in-form forward Abby Bishop stole the show with another dominant 33-point, eight-rebound display.
Jackson has been hampered by injuries, including five operations on her hip and knee since January, but the return of her famous No. 15 singlet is a tremendous boost to Canberra’s finals hopes.
She won’t play against the Waves, but she did enough to give the Capitals plenty of optimism she can help them make a play-off run.
Canberra coach Carrie Graf said Jackson was relieved to be unscathed.
“She was extremely nervous, but she scored some vital points in the last quarter and had really settled into the game by then,” Graf said.
After scoring a career-high 35 points in last week’s loss to Townsville, forward Bishop’s case for this year’s most valuable player award only strengthened. She scored 16 points in the first quarter and 11 in the third.
