The Canberra Capitals are two wins away from competing a remarkable WNBL revival, but an old rival is standing in the way of the club clinching an eighth championship.
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The Capitals will play against the Adelaide Lightning in the best of three grand final match up after beating the Perth Lynx 91-75 on Thursday night to keep a title dream alive.
The Capitals beat Adelaide to win their first championship in 1999 when Lauren Jackson kick-started a decade of dominance and now the clubs will lock horns again aiming to end respective droughts.
Canberra hasn't played in the finals since 2011 and hasn't won a grand final since 2010, while Adelaide will be playing in its first championship match since 2008.
The Capitals will host the first game on February 9 and third games if required and will be riding high on confidence after withstanding a Perth fightback.
Kia Nurse ignited the game with seven three-pointers, finishing with 27 points while Leilani Mitchell showed her championship poise with 19.
Nurse has been one of the signings of the season after the Capitals managed to lure the WNBA draftee to Australia for the first time.
She hasn't disappointed, lighting up teams from three-point range and giving the Capitals a massive attacking weapon.
"[Making the grand final] was definitely a hope. But every time you go into a new season you never know. It's great, it's all the hard work we've put in this season," Nurse said.
"It's going to take us playing as a team, we've been doing that every week. We've got so many weapons offensively, that's the best part about us."
The Capitals finished the regular season at the top of the ladder but they hadn't won in Perth this year until the semi-final clash.
Perth clawed its way back into the contest after half-time, but the Capitals had far too much firepower in the clutch moments and will be favourites to win another title.
Marianna Tolo is the only survivor of the Capitals' last championship win in the 2009-10 season, but they boast title winners after going on a recruiting spree.
Mitchell, Kelsey Griffin and Kelly Wilson have won championships with other teams, while Nurse has a swag of title-winning experience from her college and junior career.
"We knew how tough the game was going to be over here, this is our first win in Perth for the season so we're pretty pumped to get this win," Wilson told Fox Sports as she targets her fourth title.
"They threw everything at us, came out so hard in the first quarter. But credit to my team for sticking with it and hitting some massive shots down the stretch.
"...It's a grand final, so back to scratch. Look out next week, we're so pumped to have that first final in Canberra."
Canberra went cold from the field in the opening half but Nurse hit four three-pointers to spark the visitors into action.
By the end of the game the Capitals finished with 61 per cent from three-point range, knocking down 14 shots from downtown to be the standout.
Griffin played her role with 12 points and 13 rebounds, Tolo was kept quiet until the last quarter and Mitchell showed her class with some big shots when the game was on the line.
The grand final series against Adelaide will be the first time in Capitals history the club has played in a best-of-three championship contest after winning their seven previous titles in one-off games.
AT A GLANCE
Thursday: CANBERRA CAPITALS 91 (Kia Nurse 27, Leilani Mitchell 19, Kelly Wilson 15) bt PERTH LYNX 75 (Katie Ebzery 17, Alison Shwagmeyer 17, Lauren Mansfield 12) at Bendat Basketball Stadium.
WNBL GRAND FINAL SERIES
February 9: Canberra Capitals v Adelaide Lightning at AIS Arena, 5.30pm.
February 13: Adelaide Lightning v Canberra Capitals at Adelaide, 7.30pm.
February 16 (if required): Canberra Capitals v Adelaide Lightning at AIS Arena, 5.30pm.
