Canberra Capitals refer incident involving Sydney Flames coach Shane Heal to WNBL

The event occurred after the match, won by Sydney 81-70, when the players and coaching staff were shaking hands.

The two men exchanged words as they shook hands, Bourke clearly distressed by what was said.

The Capitals were shaken by the comments and have referred the incident to the league for further investigation.

"The Capitals have referred an incident that took place after yesterday's game between Sydney Flames head coach Shane Heal and Capitals assistant coach Angus Bourke to the WNBL for review. No further comment will be made whilst the review is undertaken," general manager Lucille Bailie said in a statement.

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The WNBL did not respond to requests for comment.

The incident came as the Capitals accepted a $1000 fine for the jersey debacle that saw the side wear a yellow singlet in Wednesday's loss to the Southside Flyers.

This week's defeats to the Flyers and Flames extended Canberra's losing streak to 11, the second worst in club history.

Amid the challenges, however, a number of bright spots have emerged. Young guard Shaneice Swain backed up Wednesday's 22-point performance against the Flyers with 21 on Friday night.

A former Australia under-19 representative, the teenager has long been touted as a star of the future.

Capitals coach Kristen Veal was confident Swain would one day play for the Opals, backing the 19-year-old to continue her development throughout the second half of the WNBL season.

"This is her growing," Veal said.

"She's not even close to where she'll end up in the future. She's a really exciting prospect and she'll continue to get better with the opportunity and responsibility she has.

"She'll be an Opal, it's just a matter of when. When she decides she wants it and she wants do do everything she can, then it will happen quickly. For now it's just that natural maturation that a young person has."

Swain is now averaging 13.2 points per game and has developed into a key member of the Capitals rotation.

While pleased with her performances, the youngster has found it difficult to enjoy her success while the team struggles.

Instead, the focus is on helping the Capitals break their losing streak.

"I'm happy with how I'm performing but it doesn't really matter to me," Swain said.

"The team comes first before me. Hopefully we can get a win in the next few games. We'll stick together throughout the rest of the season."

The Capitals will now enjoy a few days off after completing a gruelling stretch involving four games in 10 days. Canberra will host Townsville on Saturday and Veal was confident a break would rejuvenate her team.

"We'll give them some time off," Veal said.

"It's a chance to step away and decompress, do whatever they need to do. Then we'll come back on Tuesday, ease them back in and prepare for the game on Saturday.

"It will be nice to get back on the training paddock this week. We haven't trained since last Tuesday."

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