![Newcastle Falcons guard Kate Kingham. Picture by Sproule Sports Focus Newcastle Falcons guard Kate Kingham. Picture by Sproule Sports Focus](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/AVQVfAtGgzehhK8J9F6uCU/ec499b06-6f17-4d82-8307-1a3ee3975d07.jpg/r0_0_3094_3968_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
NEWCASTLE Falcons coach Kristy Bultitude needs Kate Kingham at full throttle in the NBL1 East play-offs and plans to nurse the inspirational captain through the final three regular season games.
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Kingham injured her back in the horror road trip to Albury and Canberra last month.
The tenacious guard sat out the 75-74 win over Manly and was limited to 12:25 minutes of court time in the 91-61 thrashing of Hills District.
She will suit up against Hornsby in Sydney on Saturday and back-up at home versus Inner West on Sunday. The Falcons host arch rivals Maitland in the final round on July 13.
The Falcons (12-4 win-loss record) should win all three and are likely to finish third.
Bultitude is already planning for the play-offs.
"Kate will get an increase in minutes this weekend," Bultitude said. "She had a 20-minute game-time limit last weekend, but we didn't need to push her out to that.
"There is nothing to be too concerned about. It is a muscular issue in her back but it is improving with physio. She has participated under full pressure at training.
"We are confident Kate will be 100 per cent for the play-offs. We need her defence and ability to make open shots. We are continuing to build her confidence. When she is confident, she shoots really well."
Bultitude also plans to lessen the workload of other starters to freshen them up.
Imports Nicole Munger and Oni Nicols and star forward Isla Juffermans each played reduced minutes against Hills.
The Falcons beat Hornsby 85-59 and Inner West 86-66 in their first encounter this season.
"All being well, we want to get through some more rotations with other players to so we are building depth and experience," Bultitude said.
"When it comes to the crunch in a tight game in the play-offs, if there is foul trouble you will need those players. We might need the likes of Matilda [Burns], Ell [Kaluski] and Meiling [Patfield] to go in and back-up and know they will be confident."
The Falcons men's side can't make the finals. However they beat Hornsby 81-61 in their first meeting and have added import Leo O'Boyle since going down to the Bulls.