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WNBL Weekly Round 5: Happy Cappies; More history made

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Alicia Froling previews ESPN's game of the round (2:06)

Townsville Fire's Alicia Froling previews a massive Wednesday night game of the round against the Perth Lynx with ESPN's Megan Hustwaite. (2:06)

Every week, ESPN's Megan Hustwaite brings together news stories that have caught her eye across the WNBL.


Happy Cappies

Not defence, not offence, but happiness was the key to the UC Capitals breaking their duck and going 2-0 in Round 4.

Winless after four games, the Caps pulled off an upset on their home court by beating Townsville on Thursday night then, for the second time in a three-week stretch, flew to Victoria and knocked over Geelong.

Canberra captain, and Olympic bronze medallist, Jade Melbourne said the secret sauce has been fun.

"The game where we lost by one to Perth then the two wins at the weekend, we've just had a lot of fun so we're going to try and be the happier team than the opposition and hopefully the joy we're playing with comes so natural to us and I think it's annoying for other teams," The WNBL player of the round told ESPN.

"What I'm proud of is how far we've come in six games and how everyone's bought into what Goz's (coach Paul Goriss) vision is for the Caps.

"It could have been really easy for us to make excuses about being young and inexperienced but the attention to detail everyone comes to training and games with and the pride and buying into individual roles makes my job as captain easier."

At just 22 and in her fifth WNBL campaign, Melbourne is a year older than Katie Deeble and Indi Bowyer, two years older than 20-year-old WNBA draftee Nyadiew Puoch, and has five years on teen star Monique Bobongie.

Record breaker, history maker

Ever since she broke the WNBL games record in 2022, Kelly Wilson has made history every time she steps on the court.

The 40-year-old added another achievement to her overflowing CV on Sunday when she passed great mate, and championship teammate, Gabe Richards' games record (251 games) at Bendigo.

NBL1 South got it right in 2023 when it renamed its Golden Hands awards to honour Wilson who not surprisingly won her own award that year and again in 2024.

The WNBL should follow suit, while Wilson is playing and could be on the cusp of a fifth championship this season. Let's honour our living legends while they are still in action and we can appreciate them each and every game.

LA dunk

There was extra excitement and anticipation when Perth's star import Laeticia Amihere flew down the court against Sydney on Saturday night following a challenge thrown down during the week.

The Lynx have teamed up with VenuesWest who will give away a fully-catered, 18-person suite at RAC Arena to US singer Gracie Abraham's concert next year if the dual Canadian Olympian dunks in a WNBL game this season.

The uber-athletic and long 191cm centre first dunked at 15 years of age and is up for creating some WNBL history.

While Liz Cambage became the first woman to dunk at an Olympics in London 2012, she never did it during her WNBL career. Townsville championship player Zitina Aokuso dunked in the warm-up of a game two years ago and injured her foot but would return later in the season and lift the trophy.

Fly high, LA!

True Ally

Young fans asking athletes for their playing gear has become common place in sport but it's a bit trickier for female stars who, for the most, pay for their own shoes and don't have an endless supply.

Props to Perth's Ally Wilson for signing and giving her custom painted Kobes, adorned with the artwork of her cousin's partner Amy Walley Stack, to young fan Queen during Indigenous Round at the weekend.

Three pointers with Townsville Fire import Lauren Cox

• Australia is the third country I've played in as a pro. I've done two seasons in Spain and my last season was in Italy.

• I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when I was 7 years old, I don't know life any other way. It's definitely difficult, I've learned through the years how to manage it and have all my supplies ready. The team really support me and understand if I need to sit out to wait for my blood sugar to come back up. I love meeting people with Type 1 at games, getting an Instagram DM asking a question or when parents say my story has been an inspiration for their child.

• The WNBL has a lot of really good bigs and we've only played a couple of games so far but Marianna Tolo is always really tough, she has a of experience and is super strong. Latecia Amihere from Perth is really good, super athletic and quick.