Southside Melbourne coach Kristi Harrower has slammed her team as "soft defensively" after the Flyers crashed to their fourth straight WNBL loss, belted 97-71 by Canberra.
Capitals superstar Sara Blicavs - celebrating her 300th game - and skipper Zitina Aokosu scored 22 points each at AIS Arena on Friday night, while playmaker Jade Melbourne paired 10 points with 11 assists.
Tokyo Olympian Blicavs, the 23rd player in league history to reach the triple-century, buried 6-of-9 three-pointers as in-form Canberra (5-6) stormed home with a 27-12 fourth quarter to notch their third win in six days, consolidating fourth position.
"I think we're soft defensively," Harrower fumed after the match.
"I knew this game would be a war and I knew this team would get after us - and we didn't fight fire with fire.
"We can talk about it all we want, but unless we're going to show it, we're not going anywhere until people want to play some defence and do the hard stuff."
Only Maddi Rocci (24 points, eight rebounds, eight assists) impressed for the Flyers (3-7).
Blicavs had her way with her former team early, peeling off 16 first-quarter points - including 4-of-4 three-pointers - with her mum, 1984 Olympian Karen Blicavs, and brother, Geelong AFL star Mark Blicavs, in the stands.
"This is a game I'll remember forever," Blicavs said.
"I had so much fun."
Aokuso chimed in with 11 points as Canberra sprinted ahead 34-23 at the opening change.
The Capitals' slick early pace slowed in the second term as Rocci - who had 18 first-half points - single-handedly led Southside's rearguard.
But Canberra pinched back the momentum when Jayda Clark drained a 30-footer on the halftime bell to stretch the margin to 47-40.
The Flyers started the third stanza with an 8-0 burst - capped by back-to-back Cayla George triples - to hit the lead, before Canberra hit back, wrestling back control to lead 71-59 at three-quarter time, before dominating the final quarter.
