After last week's 29-point belting by Sydney, the word 'pride' was the Canberra Capitals' catchcry this week.
That was on display last night when they used their famed resilience to hold off a fast-finishing Logan 65-57 at AIS Arena.
Canberra dominated early to build a 45-22 half-time lead, but nearly let the match slip with a messy second half.
Trailing by 24 points late in the third term, Logan stormed back into the match with a gutsy 18-0 run either side of three-quarter time.
But the Capitals steadied in the dying stages to record their eighth win of the season, and snap a three-game losing streak.
Smarting after last week's loss, the biggest the club has endured for many years, Canberra's players decided ''enough is enough''.
''Everyone was really feisty this week at training and that's what we needed, we've been missing that a bit,'' Capitals' small forward Carly Wilson declared.
''There was a big focus on pride this week, and Graffy [coach Carrie Graf] talked about it in our pre-match talk.
''We know the finals dream is over for us, but we want to prove we cannot only beat these finals-type teams, but do it convincingly.''
Logan entered the match in fourth place, and could have all but sewn up a play-off berth with victory.
But in the first half it was the host who outenthused and outplayed the same opponent it lost to at home by 13 points just two weeks ago.
The Capitals shot the ball at a tick under 50per cent before the major break, the Thunder unable to blunt their wealth of scoring options.
Logan's running game hurt Canberra badly in their last meeting, but Canberra vastly improved its defensive transition.
Although it racked up 25 turnovers to Logan's 19, the eight- point margin probably flattered the Queenslanders.
The visitors were thrashed 49-30 on the boards in the clearest sign of Canberra's greater intensity.
''In terms of executing the game plan and staying focused, [the first half] probably was [the best all year],'' Graf said.
''It was a reverse of two weeks ago, our defence was high pressure and it allowed us to rebound and run.
''We didn't step up to their defensive pressure in the second half, but it was certainly more good than bad.''
Canberra's next assignment is against AIS on Wednesday night, when skipper Jess Bibby will become just the 10th player to play 300 WNBL games.
AT A GLANCE CANBERRA CAPITALS 65 (Brigitte Ardossi 12, Nicole Hunt 10, Michelle Cosier 10) bt LOGAN THUNDER 57 (Sarah Graham 10, Renae Camino 10) at AIS Arena last night.
Other match: Dandenong 91 bt Sydney 82
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