The Canberra Capitals have beaten the Dandenong Rangers 68-55 in the WNBL (Women’s National Basketball League) grand final.
This from our friends at The Age [1]
Canberra wins WNBL grand final
Lauren Jackson has spearheaded the Canberra Capitals to their fourth women’s national basketball title in seven years with a 68-55 victory over Dandenong Rangers.
Jackson scored a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds in the WNBL final with 13 of her points coming in a blistering second quarter performance as the Capitals raced to a 14-point halftime lead.
The Rangers powered back early in the third quarter, closing to within three points and keeping Jackson scoreless for the entire term.
But Canberra steadied and closed the match out in front of a sellout 2,200 crowd at the Dandenong Basketball Stadium.
Jackson received great support inside from fellow Opals giant Jenny Whittle (12 points and nine rebounds) while guard Kellie Abrams scored 14 – including two important late third quarter baskets.
For the Rangers, Caitlin Ryan and Carly Wilson top-scored with 17 points apiece.
The defeat ended the Rangers’ recent dominance of the WNBL after they had won the past two championships.
For the Capitals, this season’s victory adds to their 1999-00, 2001-02 and 2002-03 titles.
The grand final is expected to be Jackson’s final WNBL match for the foreseeable future as she concentrates on her American WNBA commitments with Seattle.
I caught the last ten minutes or so of the TV coverage on the ABC, and was rather surprised to find erstwhile AFL commentator for Seven and ABC News Radio was the main commentator and host of the ABC basketball coverage. It’s good to see Drew still doing what he loves, and I hope he comes back to Seven when they resume coverage of AFL in 2007. Drew was looking well too.
Update: ABC2 (Available on free to air digital and possibly pay TV) will be replaying the full two hours of live coverage tomorrow at 11am. I’ll probably tune in as I would like to see the match.
Samuel