Canberra Capitals young gun Maddison Rocci calls on home fans to boost WNBL defence

The Capitals have secured a top two finish in the WNBL with a tense 73-71 win over the Adelaide Lightning at the National Convention Centre on Saturday.

The final buzzer brought the crowd of 1687 to their feet and sparked a spine-tingling roar from the Capitals' biggest attendance of the season.

Now the defending champions will set their sights on a semi-final series against the Melbourne Boomers in mid-February following the FIBA international window.

The Capitals have earned home court advantage in the best-of-three series having gained the split on the Boomers - and the rest of the top four for that matter.

Now Rocci, whose career-best form continued with 16 points against Adelaide while Kia Nurse posted a game-high 28, has called on the punters to pack out the AIS Arena in the playoffs.

"It's amazing, they really lift us, especially when we steal the ball, it's electric in there," Rocci said.

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"We're super excited for the home court advantage to have them behind us all the way.

"We're going to work on things while the others are gone overseas so we're prepared for when [coach Paul Goriss] and the other girls get back.

"We have Kelsey [Griffin] there, so that will be good. She'll lift us [at practice]. We're not going to let ourselves drop off while they're gone because that's not going to be good for us."

The WNBL is set to push the dates of the semi-finals, originally slated to begin on February 15, back to allow each team's internationals more recovery time.

For now Canberra assistant coaches Carly Wilson, Kristen Veal and Jenny Lonergan will take the reins as Goriss heads overseas for the Opals' Olympic Games qualifiers in France.

Joining him on the flight will be Marianna Tolo and French guard Olivia Epoupa, while Canadian star Kia Nurse is bound for Belgium.

Capitals rookies Gemma Potter and Lily Scanlon will link up with the Victorian side at under 20 nationals in Canberra.

It leaves the coaching staff with a group of eight players to work with - including three development players.

But Goriss is confident he leaves camp in good order after the Capitals recovered from a sluggish start to surge home against Adelaide.

Nurse finished just shy of a double-double with 28 points and nine rebounds while Griffin pulled down 10 boards and racked up seven assists.

The Capitals have now racked up five successive wins, with the timely returns of Griffin and Keely Froling from injury suggesting everything is coming together at the right time.

"It's unfortunate we've got a break for two weeks, and who knows what may happen after that," Goriss said.

"Momentum now is dead and gone, and as we just spoke about as a group, it's a whole new season when we come back.

"Nothing means much for finishing second other than home court advantage. It's a new season for us once we go into those playoffs.

"Knowing what Canberra did and how they came out and supported us last year, we really wanted to lock away the home court advantage because it's huge for us."

AT A GLANCE

WNBL round 16: CANBERRA CAPITALS 73 (Kia Nurse 28, Maddison Rocci 16, Marianna Tolo 13) bt ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 71 (Lauren Nicholson 16, Steph Talbot 15, Kathryn Westbeld 10) at National Convention Centre. Crowd: 1687.