Canberra Capitals forward Brigitte Ardossi needed just one sentence to sum up her side's deflation after its WNBL finals hopes were extinguished with a loss to Logan last night. ''Words really can't be written in a newspaper for how I feel right now,'' she said.
Ardossi (15 points, 13 rebounds) was clearly Canberra's best last night, but she was inconsolable after her side's 72-59 defeat.
''My results don't mean anything when you've got an 'L' next to your name.''
The Capitals' playoff chances were running on the scent of an oily rag before last night's home loss to Logan.
But after arguably its most disappointing effort of the season, Canberra's season has now officially run out of petrol.
With their record now 7-11, even wins in all their last four matches won't be enough for the Capitals to sneak into the playoffs.
The seven-time champions are now resigned to being finals spectators for the first time since 2004-05.
Canberra got off to another slow start, and trailed by seven points at quarter-time.
But the Capitals hit back with a 14-2 run to start the second quarter and take a 33-28 lead.
However, the momentum then swung dramatically in Logan's favour. The visitors scored the next 14 points, and kept Canberra scoreless for seven minutes either side of half-time to reclaim the advantage 42-33.
Logan won the third term 24-13 to set up what proved to be a match-winning 14-point advantage.
Canberra showed signs of another late revival early in the fourth quarter, getting to within eight midway through the term.
But the Thunder settled to grind out a win that improves its record to 9-6. Logan guards Kristen Veal (15 points, five assists), Sarah Graham (12 points, seven assists) and Renae Camino (12 points) successfully penetrated Canberra's defence all night.
The visitor racked up 20 assists to Canberra's nine in the clearest indicator of its greater offensive threat.
Still nursing an ankle injury, Canberra's Opals centre Marianna Tolo was well below her dynamic best and was restricted to just seven points.
The Capitals will now head to Sydney on Australia Day with only pride to play for against its traditional rival.
''Our on-ball defence wasn't up to scratch, and our d-trans [defensive transition] was probably the worst it's been,'' Canberra coach Carrie Graf said. ''Our goal was to stop their running game and we didn't get that done. They shot and moved the ball exceptionally well, and we couldn't hit the broadside of a barn.''
AT A GLANCE LOGAN THUNDER 72 (Kristen Veal 15, Renae Camino 12, Sarah Graham 12, Emma Langford 12) bt CANBERRA CAPITALS 59 (Carly Wilson 15, Brigitte Ardossi 15, Jess Bibby 12) at AIS Arena. Crowd: 1213
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