Toll of taxing schedule proves too great as Canberra Capitals fall to Sydney Flames in WNBL clash

Trailing by four late in the third quarter, the mentor could sense an upset in Friday night's WNBL clash with the Sydney Flames.

So Veal kept pushing and pushing as the Capitals fought to snap a 10-game losing streak and claim their first victory of the year.

The longer the match went on, however, and the clearer it became a win was slipping away.

Instead Shyla Heal (26 points) and Keely Froling (21 points) made sure the Flames opened a Friday night double-header with a 81-70 victory before the Kings took to the court for an NBL clash with the Tasmania JackJumpers.

Shaneice Swain led the way for Canberra with 21 points while Rae Burrell added 15 as the Capitals slumped to their 11^th-straight loss to start the season. It is now the second longest streak in club history, behind only the 21 consecutive defeats suffered in 2015-16.

The match was the side's fourth in 10 days and Veal said the toll of the taxing workload proved too great in the second half.

"They put their heart and soul into it," Veal said. "You could see the schedule fatigue and the loss fatigue that they were just running out of legs and with the decision making.

"For us, a lot of our players will get stronger for this but it doesn't alleviate the frustration and disappointment with the short-term performances."

The first half was an even affair, both teams trading blows as they fought to gain the ascendancy.

Sydney jumped out of the blocks to race away to an early 9-4 lead before the Capitals went on a run of their own and put their noses in front.

The lead changed five times in the first quarter, however it was the visitors who held an 18-17 advantage at quarter-time.

The second quarter was another even affair, Canberra doing a good job to keep their noses in front. Swain added eight of her 14 first-half points in the period.

The visitors were left to rue a late loss of focus and they failed to score in the final 1:57 of the half. The Flames quickly took advantage and turned a 34-30 deficit into a 36-34 lead at the main break.

The start of the third quarter also did not go to plan for the Capitals as Froling and Heal flexed their muscle.

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The duo worked in tandem to extend the margin over their rivals.

A Froling jump shot pushed Sydney's lead out to 10 with less than four minutes to play in the quarter. The Flames led 57-48 at the final break and they did not look back in the fourth.

Burrell fought to keep the Capitals in the match, however she could not prevent an 11-point loss.

SYDNEY FLAMES 81 (Shyla Heal 26, Keely Froling 21) bt CANBERRA CAPITALS 70 (Shaneice Swain 21, Rae Burrell 15) at Sydney on Friday night.

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