Canberra Capitals' Tahlia Tupaea wants to push through the pain

Team doctors are happy to leave the decision in Tupaea's hands ahead of Canberra's WNBL clash with the Southside Flyers at Townsville Stadium on Sunday.

But Capitals coach Paul Goriss is leaning towards keeping the 23-year-old on the sideline with one eye on next Wednesday's semi-final showdown.

Tupaea went down clutching her shoulder midway through the third quarter in Canberra's loss to Townsville last weekend in a frustrating blow after she showed glimpses of her best.

Now Tupaea is determined to suit up against the Flyers and bury the injury demons which have threatened to derail her career.

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"It's really just a point of pain threshold for her, and making sure she feels comfortable enough if she wants to play," Goriss said.

"Medical advice is it's up to her, to see how she can handle the workload, and any knocks or bumps. It's a day to day prospect.

"She wants to play Southside but I'm erring on the side of being cautious and making sure she's ready, to give her an extra couple of days to be ready for the semi-final."

The Capitals enter the Southside clash hot off the back of a 96-69 win over the Perth Lynx in Townsville on Thursday night.

Maddison Rocci led the way with 27 points, Kelsey Griffin's double-double saw her stack the stat sheet with 15 pints and 10 rebounds, and young gun Abby Cubillo racked up seven assists.

Canberra boast a 9-3 record and a win over the Flyers could lock in a top two finish, gifting the Capitals a vital second chance in the finals series.

Stopping the side Goriss labels "the yardstick" is no mean feat but the reigning champions have already toppled Southside once this season following a Marianna Tolo masterclass, shutting down Liz Cambage in the early going.

Frustrating the Flyers giant out of the contest looms as one of the keys to victory, with the Melbourne Boomers snapping at Canberra's heels in a tightly-contested playoff race.

"We'll see how that rolls, how much we can niggle people and get underneath their skin to see how they react," Goriss said.

"We've got to take care of our business, what we need to do, first. Our focus has always been what we need to do to improve or get better and stick to our own scout.

"Obviously Liz is a big factor for them and we did a great job on her the last time in getting her into foul trouble. They're still the yardstick of the competition.

"They've had a six or seven-game winning streak now, they had a scare against Sydney, that's the dangerous thing. Most teams that have lost a game or had a shock, have come back even stronger.

"We've got some things we need to still improve on, and obviously that could be a match-up in the semi-finals or the finals if we get through that far, against Southside.

"We need to have a look at some things, try different things, while being aware of still keeping people fresh for the run through to the semi-finals."

WNBL ROUND FIVE

Sunday - Canberra Capitals v Southside Flyers at Townsville Stadium, 3pm.