Paul Goriss has to find a way to manage the workloads of his Canberra Capitals stars as the race for a home court advantage in the WNBL playoffs goes down to the final day of the regular season.
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The Capitals picked up their fourth win in 10 days with an 82-66 triumph over the Sydney Flames at the National Convention Centre on Sunday.
Now Canberra will launch a last-ditch push for a second-placed finish when they face the Adelaide Lightning at home on Saturday.
They are level with Melbourne on wins but the Boomers are clinging to second spot leading into a date with Perth on that same day.
The Southside Flyers have locked up top spot to set up a semi-final series against Adelaide following the FIBA window.
Canberra trio Marianna Tolo, Kia Nurse and Olivia Epoupa will all head overseas for Olympic Games qualifiers following the final round, which means coach Goriss has his hands full in the playoff race.
Tolo put in a near 26-minute shift while Epoupa was just shy of 30 minutes against Sydney, with next week potentially similar.
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"Number one [priority] with the amount of games we've had is trying to give them a break," Goriss said.
"Both have been absolute warriors over the past two weeks with the amount of minutes, time and their stats they've done for us.
"I'm being mindful on one hand we want to continue winning, but also doing the right thing by them because they want to get their country to an Olympic Games."
Twenty turnovers ultimately brought about Sydney's downfall with Maddison Rocci (five steals) and Olivia Epoupa (four) proving a thorn in the side of the Flames.
It made any thought of a recovery from a Nurse and Kelsey Griffin onslaught obsolete.
Nurse is continuing to find her rhythm at the back end of the season with 25 points, while Griffin added 20 in a near 26-minute stint as she continues her seamless comeback from injury.
Griffin is set to shoulder a bigger load in the coming weeks but Alex Delaney has emerged as a hidden gem in her stint as a starter during the former's absence.
"It's been unfortunate circumstances with Keely [Froling] and Kelsey out, but I've loved being able to play and get some confidence going and to be able to do what I know I can do in this league," Delaney said.
"Having that confidence now, even though my minutes will probably go down, [I am] still able to come in and play my role, and make other players better."
CANBERRA CAPITALS 82 (Kia Nurse 25, Kelsey Griffin 20, Maddison Rocci 15) bt SYDNEY FLAMES 66 (Brittany Smart 21, Jessica Kuster 17, Sarah Graham 9) at National Convention Centre. Crowd: 1362.
Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports journalist for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports journalist for The Canberra Times.
