Australian Opal point guard Leilani Mitchell and her Sydney Flames have ended the Canberra Capitals' three-game winning streak with a 84-73 win at Tuggeranong Stadium on Thursday night.
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The Capitals struggled to implement a defensive structure to contain Mitchell, but American import Jazmon Gwathmey appeared to be a good match early for the point guard's speed.
At the other end of the floor Canberra's offence was again slow to get going - they converted just four out of 19 from the field in the first quarter and were down 8-17 at the break.
Mitchell continued to dominate through the second quarter and if it wasn't for Abby Wehrung and Gwathmey's accuracy from beyond the three-point arc, the 14-point deficit at the main break would have been greater.
Gwathmey committed her third foul before half-time which made her defensive assignment on the explosive Mitchell more difficult.
Mitchell's acceleration and swift ball movement caught the Capitals off guard and opened the floor for the likes of Alex Wilson to capitalise from the field and amass 17 points of her own.
Mitchell tired late and was responsible for a number of turnovers, but the game was over at this stage and the Flames headed back to Sydney was an impressive win on the road.
She said she knew she was on top of her direct opponent when Gwathmey had foul trouble in the first half.
"They tried to put some length and some size on me and they played good defense, but my teammates did a good job of getting me open and then also being aggressive making shots on their own," Mitchell said.
Canberra Capitals acting coach Reece Potter said they were too passive early and was frustrated the side was unable to lift for a big game against an opponent just below them on the WNBL ladder.
"That game was really crucial and it could come back to bite us potentially but we can't dwell on that now, we just have to learn the lessons from it and fix up those things on a tough road trip next week to Victoria," he said.
WNBL ROUND 10
Sydney Flames 84 (L Mitchell 23, A Wilson 17, L Nicholson 16 points) bt Canberra Capitals 73 (M Tolo 19, A Wehrung 15 points).