Primeiro confronto entre Lauren Jackson e Liz Cambage

Jackson sees a positive in Capitals' loss

LAUREN Jackson shot 40 points in a losing side for the Canberra Capitals yesterday, but she could not hide her excitement at the prospect of sharing a court with her opponent and heir apparent Liz Cambage for the Opals.

Jackson hailed Cambage as a superstar in the making after the dominant Bulleen Boomers stormed from behind to topple Jackson's Capitals by 10 points, 88-78, in the Women's National Basketball League's top-of-the-table final-round clash at the State Netball and Hockey Centre.

It was high praise from Jackson, arguably the best player in the world and without doubt the outstanding player on the court yesterday with 40 points and 11 rebounds. But Cambage, the 18-year-old, 203-centimetre centre from Bulleen, was instrumental in hauling Bulleen back from a five-point deficit at three-quarter-time.

The teen sensation did not allow her admiration for Jackson to get in the way of her ambition to ensure the first-placed Boomers will take the momentum into Saturday's home semi-final at Knox.

She saved her best quarter for last after getting into early foul trouble. ''I just had to try and keep my hands up for the rest of the game. There is nothing you can do when the refs are being tough like that, so you just have to play through it,'' Cambage said after going up against her idol for the first time.

''It was just crazy because she just does not miss, but it was a great experience. We got off to a rocky start, but the way we came back to win the game shows our mental focus and how hard we train.

''The strategy was just to play good defence and try and get her to take hard shots but she can shoot from anywhere. We were going to try and keep her to 20 [points] but that was a bit of a failure. But what can you do?''

Jackson has had a profound impact on the WNBL since cancelling her contract with Russian club Spartak Moscow and returning to the Australian league after recovering from a back injury, but she could not inspire her Canberra teammates to victory and the Capitals slipped to third on the ladder behind the Sydney Uni Flames.

Jackson, 28, predicted a bright future for Cambage at international level and is looking forward to playing with her at the world championships later this year.

''There is some really great talent coming through. I haven't played with Lizzy yet [for the Opals] and I can't wait, I'm excited, because she is definitely going to take a lot of pressure off me inside but look, she is a bit of star,'' Jackson said.

''When Lizzy came in she re-grouped and got a couple of baskets. [Sharin] Milner got a couple of threes, the momentum changed like that and we didn't really respond. We have got a lot of work to do [in the finals].''

The match attracted 2160 spectators to The Cage in Parkville and delivered an intense contest that came to life in the last quarter.

After Cambage scored from an offensive rebound, Jenna O'Hey put the Boomers in front from the foul line and point guard Milner also did some crucial damage.

O'Hey top-scored for Bulleen with 19 points and also hauled in eight rebounds, while Hanna Zavecz was important with strong rebounds at both ends of the court.

Jackson, by contrast, did not have enough support from teammates and was fouled off in the last 30 seconds of the match.

The Boomers have won 21 of their 22 matches this season and are strong favourites to win the title.

Jackson, Cambage in clash of WNBL titans

The much-anticipated first match up between superstar Lauren Jackson and emerging star Liz Cambage is the headline act of a fascinating WNBL final-round clash between Bulleen and Canberra in Melbourne on Saturday.

Bulleen (20-1 record) has already clinched the minor premiership, but defending champion Canberra (16-5) must beat the Boomers on Saturday to secure second spot and the double chance ahead of Sydney (16-5).

The game has been switched to a larger venue to accommodate the interest generated by a match that looms as a battle of the giants, on and off the court.

The first ever clash between 195-centimetre Canberra centre Jackson (24.6 points, 9.1 rebounds per game) and 203cm Bulleen linchpin Cambage (20.8pts, 9.7reb) will give basketball fans their best chance yet to assess the teenager's undoubted talent.

Both Bulleen coach Tom Maher and his Capitals counterpart Carrie Graf, who has coached Cambage in the Australian team, believe the 18-year-old giant has shown increasing maturity over the WNBL season.

Each emphasised Jackson and Cambage possessed different styles.

"Comparing the two there's not a lot of similarities in their game, Lizzie is a pure centre and Lauren is a mobile power forward," Graf said.

Maher said if Jackson and Cambage had clashed as recently as six or seven weeks ago, the youngster would have been thrashed "like a baby", but noted the teenager's rapid improvement.

"I can't speak more highly of her now, she's really matured into being a top player and she'll give Canberra problems," he said.

"It's not up to her having to beat Jackson. We've got strengths in other areas and it's a team game."

In a sign the league's personnel is literally getting bigger, Bulleen will also have Elyse Penaluna (193cms) back after sickness, while Canberra has plenty of tall timber of its own.

Jackson apart, the Caps will throw 196cm Marianna Tolo into the fray along with veteran 202cm centre Tracey Beatty.

The collision of giants extends beyond the confines of the court, with rival coaches and good friends Maher and Graf going head-to-head for only the second time.

Overseas positions have meant Maher (seven WNBL titles) and Graf (six titles as a coach, five as a player under Maher) had never coached against each other until this season.

Their first encounter was back in round one last October, when Bulleen scored an 88-73 away win over a Canberra team which did not have either Jackson or Bishop.

"Tom is my former mentor and I guess he still is in a lot of ways," Graf said.

"I absolutely value Tom's opinions on the game and he is the master coach."

Sydney will go into its final round home clash with Perth (2-18) without injured front court stars Suzy Batkovic-Brown and Eva Afeaki.

Sixth-placed Adelaide (12-9), which has not missed the finals in 17 years, must beat Dandenong (6-15) and hope that Bendigo (12- loses its two final round fixtures.