The finals hopes of the Canberra Capitals are alive and they have Abby Bishop's career-best form to thank after she guided her team into the top four for the first time this year.
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Bishop scored a career-high 36 points in Canberra's 74-66 win against the Melbourne Boomers on Saturday, with coach Carrie Graf declaring the skipper has "easily stamped herself as the most valuable player" this season.
The Capitals are now on the cusp of a WNBL play-off berth with three games left in the season, securing two crucial wins in two days on a brutal Victorian road trip.
Bishop scored a remarkable 61 points and pulled in 24 rebounds in wins against the Boomers and the Bendigo Spirit on Friday night.
The wins notched Graf's 250th triumph as coach, making her the first in WNBL history to reach the milestone.
Bishop was the only Canberra player to reach double figures against the Boomers.
"Abby Bishop keeps stamping MVP over everyone in the league," Graf said. "She's leading us through her play and from the front ... she's the definer.
"She's got great composure, teams are packing in on her and double-teaming her; she's focused inside-out.
"It's a no-brainer that she's the MVP in most games. It doesn't matter that she's the only one in double figures, if we win, then we win. You can't get over-focused on that; you go to the well until the well runs dry and right now it's not dry."
The Capitals will stay in the top four if the Townsville Fire beat the Sydney Flames on Sunday.
A win against the Adelaide Lightning on Friday night would edge them closer to a finals spot, which would end a three-season play-off drought.
Bishop has easily been the standout while veterans Lauren Jackson and Kristen Veal continue to find top form at the crucial time of the season.
Bishop scored a game-high 36 points, added 14 rebounds and a perfect 11 of 11 from the free throw line, while the rest of the Capitals, Jackson (six points, eight rebounds) included, did everything they could to defend with aggression.
"When we have contributors we are winning games," Bishop said after the game.
"It has made a huge difference – credit to the guys for jumping on board, it feels nice to win so, hopefully, we can keep this form going. This weekend has been huge for us."
The win moves Canberra ahead of Bulleen in the tight finals race with Sydney also in the mix to steal the fourth place up for grabs.
Canberra has struggled to get any momentum this year with constant injuries leaving its line-up depleted.
Jackson, Michelle Cosier, Veal and Hanna Zavecz have all spent time on the sideline, but Graf said the double road win had given the team confidence with finals on the line.
The Capitals overcame a 10-point deficit to beat Bendigo and then got back to their hotel at 1am before backing up to take on the Boomers.
Graf swatted away praise of her 250 milestone and said her only focus was winning a title.
"It doesn't mean anything to me ... if we don't make the finals or win more championships then 250 wins has little relevance.
"It's up to stay in fourth spot, that just means you've got to win games."
AT A GLANCE
Friday: CANBERRA CAPITALS 73 (Abby Bishop 25, Lauren Jackson 17, Kristen Veal 12) bt BENDIGO SPIRIT 70 (Sara Blivacs 23, Kelsey Griffin 16, Belinda Snell 13) at Bendigo Stadium.
Saturday: CANBERRA CAPITALS 74 (Abby Bishop 36, Kristen Veal 9, Stephanie Talbot 7) bt MELBOURNE BOOMERS 66 (Tess Madgen 16, Laurie Koehn 13, Rebecca Allen 12) at State Basketball Stadium, Melbourne.
