Abby Bishop.

Canberra's inspirational skipper has carried a heavy workload in the absence of injured superstar Lauren Jackson and the 16-point win over Adelaide was no exception.

The 26-year-old celebrated her birthday in typically dominant style, racking up a sublime 31-point, 15-rebound double-double as the Caps overcame an early deficit to pull away from the bottom-placed Lightning, who have now lost six straight games, all by double digits.

Adelaide was held to just six points in the third quarter - and 22 in the second half - as Canberra ramped up the defensive pressure to suffocation point.

Bishop had good support from front-court mate Stephanie Talbot who added 16 points while Adelaide was paced by Angela Marino and Amy Lewis, who scored 14 and 12 points respectively.

Canberra coach Carrie Graf said the third-quarter charge - and Bishop's dominance - was key to the Caps' win in front of a raucous crowd of 842.

"We knew Adelaide would play desperate, they were coming off a game last night," Graf said.

"But we had to play desperate, too, and we knew the third quarter was critical.

"We stepped up our defensive intensity, did a job on the glass and that broke the game open.

"And Abby was just monumental. She said before the game there was no way we're losing this game and she put the team on her back.

"She defends, she rebounds, she finds ways to score and she was world class tonight."

Both teams lined up pre-game wearing black armbands in honour of cricketer Phillip Hughes, who passed away on Thursday after being felled by a bouncer last Tuesday in a Sheffield Shield game between South Australia and NSW.

The players and crowd also observed 63 seconds of silence to remember Hughes, who had scored 63 runs when the tragic accident occurred.

Adelaide started brightly enough, local product Jess Foley opening the scoring for the visitors while Canberra's ball movement and defensive pressure was also active early.

The Caps looked to Bishop early and often, the 193-centimetre pivot scoring 12 of Canberra's first 14 points.

But Adelaide refused to yield, scrapping its way to a 22-15 quarter-time advantage that quietened the pro-Canberra crowd.

A basket to Kelly Faris to open the second term extended the lead to nine and had alarm bells ringing for Canberra, and although Talbot added a scoring option for the Caps, the hosts still trailed 30-23 with four minutes to the long break.

Enter Jess Bibby.

The diminutive veteran nailed back-to-back three-pointers - and eight points in total - to spark the Caps on a late run and to close to 38-36 at the half.

Canberra came out snarling in the second half, opening the game up by pushing the pace and racing out to a 45-40 lead after just four minutes.

Under pressure, Adelaide started to look rattled offensively, while Canberra simply went from strength to strength, finding Bishop inside again and again.

With a commanding 55-42 lead after three quarters it was a matter of how far Canberra and when Kristen Veal nailed consecutive triples, the margin was out to 66-47.

The win assured, Graf had the luxury of giving her birthday girl a well-earned rest over the final minutes as the Caps eased to the finish line.

AT A GLANCE

CANBERRA CAPITALS 76 (A Bishop 31 S Talbot 16 J Bibby 8) bt ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 60 (A Marino 14 A Lewis 12 L Hodges 9 K Faris 9) at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre, Albury.