Seven championship banners hung from the rafters as the Canberra Capitals returned to the scene of their golden era and Kia Nurse says their latest outing shows just how hard it will be to secure an eighth.
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The Capitals tasted defeat for the first time this season in an 84-78 loss to the Melbourne Boomers at the AIS Arena on Friday night.
While a look to the ceiling brought memories of Canberra's championship years flooding back, a seven-year finals drought has the Capitals far removed from the glory days that bore seven titles in 10 years.
However there has been plenty of cause for optimism in the early stages of the 2018-19 season for a new-look outfit already turning heads as they await the return of Opals superstar Marianna Tolo.
Three consecutive wins to start the season, the high-profile signings Nurse, Kelsey Griffin, Leilani Mitchell and Kelsey Griffin and the rapid development of Lauren Scherf and Maddison Rocci have transformed the Capitals from also-rans to contenders.
Maybe, just maybe, this group can bring an eighth banner to Canberra.
But their clash with a star-studded powerhouse in Melbourne brought Canberra back to the pack - but again, this is a Capitals outfit with a long way to go before they're at full strength.
"Every time you go into a game and you have a performance like this or you end up losing, you can take something or you can get better," Nurse said.
"For us this is a tough team, they’re a tough match-up for anybody. The fact we were able to grind it out and fight back at the end is always such a promising thing that you want to have in your team. We just can’t dig ourselves such a hole in the first half.
"I think our team is only going to continue to get better. It’s going to be the same way for everybody throughout the league, particularly as the season goes on.
"For us, we’re fortunate to have some great players and with Leilani coming back and Tolo and Wally still to come, it’s great for us."
Nurse was a standout for the Capitals and led the game with 29 points, but she admits there is plenty of room to improve given Mitchell is still on the comeback trail from injury.
The Capitals showed no signs of the sluggish start that dogged their last outing but Melbourne were dominant in the paint to open up the slender lead in the first quarter.
There was little to separate the two sides with WNBA imports Nurse and star Boomer Lindsay Allen proving why they are so highly regarded on the world stage.
But Canberra went cold early in the second quarter and slid out to a 10-point deficit at half-time on the back of the Boomers' seven-point scoring run late in the term, with ex-Capital Ezi Magbegor proving a thorn in the side of her old team with 15 points.
Their shooting radar seemingly broken as they hit a meagre 13 of 43 shots from the field in the third quarter, Canberra soon found themselves trailing by 19 in what shaped as a reality check after a dream run to start the season.
The Capitals closed the gap to four but their fightback was too little, too late.
"They hit some shots, they executed well and they got us on a couple of defensive rotations," Nurse said.
"It’s a matter of trying to get stops and trying to execute our stuff on the offensive end to make sure we’re counteracting whatever they’re trying to do defensively."
Canberra now have a week to lick their wounds before they return to action against the Sydney Flames at the National Convention Centre next weekend.
MELBOURNE BOOMERS 84 (Stephanie Talbot 17, Lindsay Allen 17, Eziyoda Magbegor 15) bt CANBERRA CAPITALS 78 (Kia Nurse 29, Kelsey Griffin 19, Keely Froling 10) at AIS Arena.
