Maddison Rocci's Canberra Capitals fire on all cylinders to thrash Bendigo Spirit in WNBL

The Capitals have torn rival WNBL title contenders to pieces yet been guilty of sluggish starts against teams they should put away.

So there's little doubt they were left satisfied with an emphatic 87-51 win over the struggling Bendigo Spirit at Townsville Stadium on Saturday night.

The 36-point thrashing buried any fears of complacency against a lower-ranked side which has been perhaps the only fault in Canberra's season to date.

Eleven of Canberra's 12 players got their name on the score sheet with guard Rocci adding 12, but it was their effort at the other end of the court turning heads.

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"We definitely came out with that defensive pressure and that energy we always need to have on the defensive end. We've definitely struggled in those games before," Rocci said on Kayo's coverage.

"To come out in this game, that's something we definitely wanted to put forward. That second quarter was really where we started that defensive energy and that led into the rest of the game.

"It doesn't matter who we go to at any time in the game, someone is willing to step up. If you're having a bad night, there's another player that's going to back up.

"That's the beauty of this team we have."

Canberra finished with a flurry to take an eight-point lead into the first break against a Bendigo outfit desperately searching for a breakthrough victory.

It soon became clear that maiden win wouldn't come against a rampant Capitals outfit as the reigning champions flexed their muscle to take a 42-21 lead at half-time.

Tessa Lavey, who finished with 17 points, already had 13 points to her name but the Spirit star was playing a lone hand - the next best by a Bendigo player was a mere two points.

The Capitals boasted a strong spread of scorers in the opening half, again led at that stage by rookie sensation Jade Melbourne and Tahlia Tupaea in near career-best form.

Yet the scariest thing for Bendigo was it felt as though the Capitals could still go to another gear. The scariest thing for Canberra's other rivals? The young guns were leading the way for the veterans.

Marianna Tolo would finish with a team high 14 points and six rebounds, while Rocci added 12 points as Kelsey Griffin and Mikaela Rued pulled down nine rebounds apiece.

The most frantic period of the Capitals' season is now behind them, boasting a league-best 8-1 record with five games remaining in the regular season.

Those final five games come across a 12-day stretch beginning on December 1. In any other season that may seem a major toll, yet this time around it offers a chance to take a breath.

Then the attention turns to another title contender in the Melbourne Boomers.

"That's going to be a big game on Tuesday, they're going to come out firing," Rocci said.

"They're going to want to beat us because of that head to head split. We're going to have that defensive pressure. We play fast basketball, we have to get into that transition game.

"We look forward to the match up, it's always a great match up against them. We're really looking forward to it.

AT A GLANCE

WNBL round three: CANBERRA CAPITALS 87 (Marianna Tolo 14, Maddison Rocci 12, Tahlia Tupaea 10) bt BENDIGO SPIRIT 51 (Tessa Lavey 17, Demi Skinner 9, Carley Ernst 7) at Townsville Stadium.