Canberra Capitals sweat on Kelsey Griffin scans after opening WNBL win

All a by-product of the Canberra Capitals star's burning desire to win every moment. But now coach Paul Goriss concedes she will "likely be out" of this week's return bout as she awaits scans on a possible broken nose.

Griffin's round one outing came to a premature end as the Capitals came back to open their WNBL campaign with a 58-55 win over the Sydney Flames at the Sydney Super Dome on Sunday.

Now the Capitals are sweating on the fitness of both Griffin and Tahlia Tupaea, who suffered another shoulder injury early, ahead of this week's round two clash against Sydney at Canberra's National Convention Centre.

Griffin hit the hardwood following a collision with former teammate Keely Froling with 67 seconds left, forced off the court but not before she posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

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"She's on her way back to Canberra now and she'll check in with our team doctor as soon as she gets back to Canberra," Goriss said.

"She'll get some scans on her nose, cheek and head. It's too early to tell. I'd say [potentially] a broken nose, but if there is any other damage, I don't know. She's in a bit of pain obviously and there was a lot of blood."

Griffin and Tupaea will be assessed over the coming days before Goriss makes a call on whether the pair will suit up against the Flames on Sunday, with Tupaea suffering another shoulder setback.

"It's that same AC joint she's been hit in. Usually she is alright after she gets it jabbed and she can play through it, but as I said to her, 'it's game one'," Goriss said.

"If you're not mentally and physically ready to play, let's just put the cue in the rack. She wanted to give it a go at least. With her toughness she did go back out there but I thought we were better doing the right thing medically-wise, and she can get it checked out after the game.

"It's a marathon this season. We don't want to put people in jeopardy of being out for the season if we act too hastily."

The Capitals trailed by nine at the half-time break but they sliced that deficit to just two heading into the final quarter - and when the game hung in the balance, Canberra's stars aligned.

American import Britt Sykes was forcing turnovers and leading all scorers with 16 points, Griffin was pulling down rebounds, Kelly Wilson orchestrated the offence and Jade Melbourne fought off triple-teaming defenders.

When Griffin went down, Canberra had edged ahead but a Lauren Mansfield three saw the hosts draw within one inside the final 30 seconds.

Two Mikaela Ruef free throws pushed the Capitals three points clear and then she came up with a block on the final play to secure the gritty victory.

"It just took us a half to get used to playing against the press. They were trying to make us play a little bit quicker, and I think the second half we played a little bit better and broke the press a few times," Goriss said.

"The grit, the fight and toughness in our group is knowing we can come back from those deficits. We can be adaptable and make change. Them pressing the whole game takes its toll, and it took a toll early on us offensively just trying to get any kind of rhythm and being able to execute.

"In the second half, when we broke the press we were more attacking offensively. That's where Slim [Sykes] was great, being able to get on the rim. Kelsey was much better in the second half getting on the pick and roll.

"Those couple of things in the second half really helped to open the game up for us. We were way more assertive after we broke the press."

AT A GLANCE

WNBL round one: CANBERRA CAPITALS 58 (Brittney Sykes 16, Kelsey Griffin 12, Alicia Froling 8) bt SYDNEY FLAMES 55 (Stephanie Watts 16, Keely Froling 13, Lauren Mansfield 11) at Sydney Super Dome.

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