Megan McConnell's message for the Capitals' doubters

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American import point guard Megan McConnell had a message for WNBL pundits and fans after UC Capitals survived Jade Melbourne’s deep three-point attempt to beat the Bendigo Spirit 94-92 in Round 1 of the 2026-27 season in Canberra on Saturday, October 17, 2026.

“I think from the beginning we’ve probably been overlooked, haven’t been on people’s radars,” McConnell, who played for the Spirit last season, said.

“But I just think that if people are going to keep doubting us, we’re going to show them what we’re about.

“It felt good to get our first win. But just happy to start 1-0 with Canberra.

“It was a really nice crowd today. It was really nice to go out there with the girls.

“We’re just a really close-knit group, and I think it shows on the court just how close we are.”

The Capitals burst out of the blocks, leading 27-15 at quarter time and by 20 with 4:06 left in the second quarter on the back of Commonwealth Games gold medalist Australian Gangurrus star Amy Atwell. She finished with 26 points (7-for-16), seven rebounds and three assists.

But the experience of the Spirit, Marianna Tolo and Kelsey Griffin, dug the road team out of the hole to tie it 81-81 with 5:44 to go.

“I don't do inspirational speeches,” Spirit head coach Kennedy Kereama said of his halftime talk.

“Just matter of fact. We're going to do X, Y and Z.

“We made some adjustments defensively, which probably helped some of the challenges we were having, which I've just outlined.

“But I think still, for us, it's really small things and small details that hurt us today, which is really frustrating because I know we're a team that can certainly take care of those types of things.

“For us, it's being able to go away and do those, but really the adjustments were very minor.”

Centre Tolo, 37, played her first game back after giving birth to her daughter, who was in the stadium with her father and Spirit GM Daniel Jackson. The new mum put up numbers: 28 points (10-for-12), six rebounds; and three steals.

Capitals star Nicole Munger made one of two from the line with 13 seconds to go to push Canberra’s lead to 94-92, and Melbourne’s game-winner was just short.

“It was either going to go one of two ways. It’s always 50-50,” Caps head coach Paul Goriss said.

“I’m just standing there watching the ball. It seemed like it took five seconds for it to go.

“Obviously, we wanted to try and make sure that they got a two over a three.

“But it ended the way we hoped for.”

McConnell added: “She’s a really good player, obviously, so I wasn’t surprised that the ball was in her hands. Like coach said, when the ball was in the air, I felt like it was 10 seconds.

“I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh’. But yeah, glad it bounced our way.”

Reigning WNBL MVP Isobel Borlase is still to come into Kereama’s team. Borlase, 22, plays Game 1 of the WNBA Finals for the Atlanta Dream against Miela Sowah’s Golden State Valkyries at 6:30am (AEDT) on Sunday, October 18, 2026 at the Chase Center in California.

“Izzy's just awesome,” Tolo said.

“Offensively, she's so hard to stop because she can do a bit of everything.

“She can shoot, she can drive, she's got a pull-up, she even posts up. That will help us.

“When you have a player of her calibre, that helps space the floor.

“It brings attention to her, which frees it up for other people, but she's still good at getting her own even though she has all this attention.

“She was the MVP of the league.

“I think it's good for her to be in Finals, but we can't wait to get her back as well.”

What you need to know

• The UC Capitals beat the Bendigo Spirit 94-92 at AIS Arena in Round 1 of WNBL27 on Saturday, October 17, 2026.
• The Capitals won the first quarter 27-15 and the second 25-22 to lead 52-37 at half-time, then Bendigo took the third 31-21 and the fourth 24-21 to win the second half 55-42 and fall two points short.
• A 13-0 Capitals run either side of quarter-time took the score from 20-15 to 33-15 and the lead peaked at 20 (45-25) in the second quarter, but an 8-0 Bendigo run put the Spirit ahead 78-77 with 7:38 left before a 9-0 Capitals reply turned 79-81 into 88-81 with 3:27 left.
• Marianna Tolo scored a game-high 28 points for Bendigo on 10-from-12, including 8-from-8 at the line, while Amy Atwell top-scored for the Capitals with 26 on 7-from-16, including 9-from-10 at the line.
• The Capitals made 20 of 27 free throws to Bendigo's 13 of 16, a seven-point edge in a two-point game, and won the boards 43-32, while the Spirit made three more field goals, 34-from-68 to 31-from-69.

UC Capitals

• Amy Atwell top-scored with 26 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 34 minutes on 7-from-16, including 3-from-9 from three and 9-from-10 at the line, scoring eight in each of the second and third quarters and seven in the fourth.
• Megan McConnell added 19 points, five rebounds and three assists on 7-from-10, including 3-from-4 from three, with eight of her points in the fourth quarter.
• Manuela Puoch scored 15 points on 5-from-9, including 3-from-4 from three and 2-from-2 at the line, in 23 minutes before fouling out, and her two free throws made it 88-81 with 3:27 left.
• Nyadiew Puoch had 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block in a team-high 36 minutes on 4-from-13, scoring nine of her points in the first quarter.
• Nicole Munger scored eight points with three assists off the bench on 3-from-4, and her free throw with 13 seconds left made it 94-92.
• Charlotte Whittaker had five points, three rebounds and a steal off the bench on 2-from-4 in 17 minutes.
• Isabel Palmer scored five points with four rebounds in eight minutes off the bench on 2-from-4, three of those points in the last 63 seconds of the third quarter.
• The Capitals shot 31-from-69 from the field, 12-from-31 from three and 20-from-27 at the line, with 43 rebounds (14 offensive), 19 assists, four steals and 10 turnovers.

Bendigo Spirit

• Marianna Tolo scored a game-high 28 points with six rebounds, three of them offensive, and a game-high three steals in 30 minutes on 10-from-12, including 8-from-8 at the line.
• Kelsey Griffin added 22 points and a game-high nine rebounds on 8-from-12, including 4-from-6 from three, scoring 13 in the fourth quarter including the three that made it 93-92 with 16 seconds left, and finished a game-high plus-11.
• Abigail Wehrung had 14 points and five assists on 5-from-9, including 4-from-6 from three.
• Jade Melbourne had a game-high 10 assists and nine points in a game-high 37 minutes on 3-from-13, including 0-from-7 from three.
• Olivia Pollerd scored nine points off the bench on 4-from-7, including 1-from-3 from three, and finished a game-low minus-15.
• Kelly Wilson had six points off the bench on 2-from-8, both makes from three, in 29 minutes.
• Casey Samuels had five assists and two points in 15 minutes on 1-from-4 and finished plus-5.
• Bendigo shot 34-from-68 from the field, 11-from-30 from three and 13-from-16 at the line, with 32 rebounds (six offensive), 23 assists, five steals and eight turnovers.