Rush Look to Finish Home Season Strong

The Integra Ballarat Rush are looking to finish their home season strong as they host the Canberra Capitals Academy this Saturday from 6pm at the MARS® MINERDOME.

The Rush were able to get the best of the Capitals in their Round 9 meeting at Canberra. Although struggling to score in the second quarter, shooting a woeful 18%, the Rush would head into the main break only trailing by three. The third quarter saw a resurgence of energy from the Rush, drastically improving their shooting percentage, and also their effort on the boards. They would jump up to a nine-point lead heading into the final quarter, and would hold on to beat the Capitals by 11, 65-54.

Coming off of two strong wins in Round 18 against Knox and Kilysth, Ballarat will be looking to continue that streak and finish their season on a high note. With Steph Cumming and Abbey Wehrung both having extraordinary Round 18 performances, they will be heavily relied upon to get the Rush over the line on Saturday. Captain Kristy Rinaldi returns to the line-up this weekend, and as Nya Mason, Sophie Alexander, and Bronte Clark are putting up some great supporting numbers in the past few weeks, the Rush are more than ready and poised to make their last home game of the season a successful one.

The Canberra Capitals, despite having only secured three wins for the season, are not a team to be underestimated. With Sarah McAppion and Ellie Junod as two tough guards that are hard to match up against, they could potentially be troublesome for the Rush defence. McAppion is averaging 13 points, 4.5 rebounds; Junod with 11 points, 4.6 rebounds. Dominance in the paint for the Capitals comes from post players Caitlyn Rowe and Alyce Shearing, averaging 12 rebounds a game between the two, both with the ability to play a physical and aggressive inside game.

The Rush want to finish strong in front of their faithful home crowd and come up victorious against a tough Capitals side. Come support them in their efforts—tip-off is from 6pm, followed by the GMHBA Ballarat Miners taking on the Canberra Gunners from 8pm.