University of Canberra Capitals
The University of Canberra Capitals are an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League. The team is based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. In 2014 the University of Canberra Union took control of the Capitals from Basketball ACT. The University of Canberra is the current naming rights sponsor for the Capitals.
History
Founded in 1984, the Capitals first competed in the WNBL in the 1986 season after winning the Women's Basketball Conference in 1985. After struggling to make an impact on the competition for more than a decade, the Capitals became one of the dominant teams in the WNBL in the 2000s, due in part to the ascension of one of the greatest female players in the world Lauren Jackson. They have won the WNBL Grand Final in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2019 and 2019–20.Since 2017, the Capitals have played out of the National Convention Centre Canberra for regular season games, as well as community and school venues Southern Cross Stadium, Tuggeranong and Radford College. For the 2024–25 WNBL season, the Capitals returned to the AIS Arena for the first time since the 2019–20 season after the venue received $15 million worth of repair work.
WNBL Grand Final appearances
The Capitals have competed in 11 Grand Finals, winning 9 :| Season | Opponent | Result | Score | Venue |
| 1999/00 | Adelaide Lightning | Won | 67-50 | Clipsal Powerhouse, Adelaide |
| 2000/01 | Sydney Panthers | Lost | 65-69 | AIS Arena, Canberra |
| 2001/02 | Sydney Panthers | Won | 75-69 | AIS Arena, Canberra |
| 2002/03 | Sydney Flames | Won | 69-67 | AIS Arena, Canberra |
| 2005/06 | Dandenong Rangers | Won | 68-55 | Dandenong Basketball Stadium, Dandenong |
| 2006/07 | Sydney Uni Flames | Won | 73-59 | ACUVUE Sports Hall, Sydney |
| 2008/09 | Bulleen Boomers | Won | 61-58 | AIS Arena, Canberra |
| 2009/10 | Bulleen Boomers | Won | 75-70 | State Netball and Hockey Centre, Melbourne |
| 2010/11 | Bulleen Boomers | Lost | 78-103 | State Netball and Hockey Centre, Melbourne |
| 2018/19 | Adelaide Lightning | Won | 93-73 | AIS Arena, Canberra |
Season summaries
Season-by-season records
1990 to 1998/99
In 1992 the Canberra City Group Capitals made the WNBL finals for the first time since their inception in 1984. The team finished 4th in the 11 team competition under coach Jerry Lee, with an 11–9 win–loss record. Jodie Murphy was named the top shooter in the WNBL for the season with 17.9 ppg and also made the WNBL All Star Five alongside Michelle Timms, Allison Cook, Michelle Brogan and Rachael Sporn. Shooting guard Narelle Fletcher also ranked 3rd in the league in 3-point percentage, shooting 37% for the season. The team was knocked out in the Preliminary Final by the 3rd placed Dandenong Rangers 75-65.After some success in 1992, hopes were high in 1993 for the Capitals to become a premiership contender under new coach Tad Duffelmeir. These hopes increased with the recruitment of 196 cm Ukrainian centre Diana Sadovnikova in round 6 of the competition. Unfortunately the Capitals were unable to find stability with the rest of the team and were unable to replicate their form from the previous season. The Capitals finished 7th in the 10 team league with a 7–11 win–loss record.
The Capitals once again hired Jerry Lee as their head coach for the 1994 season, hoping to replicate their finals experience two years earlier. They signed another European import, Joulia Goureeva to bolster the club alongside Sandovnikova. Despite the return of Lee and the two European imports the team still struggled for consistency, again finishing with a 7–11 record leaving them in 7th spot in the 10 team league.
Canberra started the 1995 season with a new coach, Michelle Wall. Unfortunately they lost the services of their two European imports Diana Sadovnikova and Joulia Goureeva who both departed to play for the Dandenong Rangers. The Capitals recruited forward/centre Latonya McGhee from the University of Florida, who finished went on to average 17.2 ppg and 10.4 rpg and guard Cherie Hogg who returned to Australia after a two-year stint playing for the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Despite the good form of the new recruits the team still finished 6th in the league with an 8–10 win–loss record.
1996 saw Kerryn Owens step into the Captain role and lead from the point guard position. Cheree Hogg departed for her hometown team Adelaide Lightning and Capitals also lost McGhee, who returned to the U.S. To add experience to a young team the Capitals signed Opals forward Fiona Robinson from Perth. Robinson went on to average 17.8 ppg and 7.5 rpg and was selected in the Opals team and won a bronze medal for Australia at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Joulia Goureeva also returned to the Capitals from Dandenong. The addition of Robinson and New Zealand guard Kim Wielens was not enough for the Capitals however as they finished 8th in the league with a 5–13 win–loss record.
The Capitals improved in 1997 narrowly missing out on a finals spot. The club signed American import Tanya Haave who combined well with Co-Captains Owens and Robinson, with the trio scoring an average of 40+ points per game between them. The club also added small forward Eleanor Sharp and AIS graduate guard Kellie Abrams to the squad. Haave proved to be a good recruit for the club and was named team MVP for the season and the team finished equal 6th with Brisbane, just missing out on a top 5 finals spot with a 6–12 win–loss record.
The Capitals lost their three leading scorers, Fiona Robinson, Tanya Haave and Kerryn Owens for the 1998 season. Robinson quit the WNBL to represent Australia in European Handball prior to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, while Haave continued her career with Swedish team Sätila SK, and Owens was recruited to play in Holland. As a result, the team struggled to remain competitive, finishing second last in the competition with a 2–10 win–loss record, beating only the winless Brisbane. Thankfully the season was a shortened one, as the WNBL switched to a summer league later that year.
In 1998/99 the WNBL switched to a summer competition for the first time. The season signalled the beginning of a turnaround for the Capitals program. The club secured Opals shooting guard Shelley Sandie who returned to the WNBL after the collapse of the US ABL league. Sandie combined with new centre/forward Karen Smith to make the Capitals a competitive team, however the club still finished last with a 4–17 record. Sandie was honoured with a WNBL life membership and was also named in the WNBL All Star Five at the end of the season, alongside Kristi Harrower, Rachael Sporn, Lauren Jackson and Gina Stevens.
1999/2000 season
The 1999/2000 season provided the Capitals with their biggest turnaround in franchise history. On the back of signing premiership winning coach Carrie Graf from Sydney, the Capitals managed to secure the nucleus of their WNBL dynasty by recruiting a number of graduates from the 1998/99 championship winning AIS team. The Capitals signed 1998/99 league MVP Lauren Jackson in a recruitment coup that also netted the club point guard Kristen Veal and swingman Deanna Smith. When these three pieces of the puzzle were combined with veterans Shelley Sandie and Karen Smith along with forward Eleanor Sharp the Capitals finally had a team capable of contending for the WNBL title.The Capitals managed to live up to pre-season expectations, finishing as minor premiers with a 16–5 win–loss record. In the Major Semi Final the Capitals played the 2nd placed Adelaide Lightning at the AIS Arena, going down in a hard-fought match 84–91. The loss meant they needed to back up in the Preliminary Final against the 3rd placed Bulleen Boomers. This proved to be a much easier matchup, with the Capitals winning 80–66. Having now lost home court advantage for the Grand Final, Canberra made the trip to Adelaide to avenge their semi-final loss. The Capitals triumphed 67–50, raising the banner for the first time in the club's history. Jackson finished the season as WNBL top scorer with 23.4 ppg, while Kristen Veal topped the league in assists with 4.9 apg. Jackson was also named league MVP for the season, appearing in the WNBL All Star Five alongside Trisha Fallon, Kristi Harrower, Kristin Folkl and Jo Hill.
2000/01 season
After 2 seasons with the Capitals, centre Karen Smith decided to quit the game for personal reasons prior to the opening of the 2000/01 season. The Capitals replaced her with Lucille Hamilton, the 187 cm forward from Dandenong. Deanna Smith also left the club for Adelaide while guard Kim Wielens decided to take a break from the WNBL.The change in personnel did not appear to affect the Capitals however, as the team managed to improve on their minor premier performance from the previous season, coming first with a 17–4 win–loss record. Lauren Jackson recorded the 2nd highest ppg for the league with 21.6, while Shelley Sandie provided the one-two punch from outside, recording the league's 4th highest scoring average with 17.3 ppg. Jackson also led the league in rebounds with 14.2 rpg and blocked shots with 4.3 bpg.
In the Major Semi Final at the AIS arena, Canberra thrashed the 2nd placed Sydney Panthers 73–56 winning the right to host the WNBL Grand Final for the first time. The week off did them no favours however, as Sydney overcame a half time deficit to win the Grand Final 69-65 despite Jackson recording figures of 22 points, 20 rebounds and 8 blocked shots for the game.