Canberra Capitals centre Marianna Tolo was picked ahead of Batkovic, who was controversially left out of the Opals side after 16 years in the national setup.

Batkovic, 35, has led Townsville Fire to the past two WNBL titles and her sizzling form this season could see her earn a record fifth MVP award to eclipse Lauren Jackson.

The Townsville captain has been superb in her three clashes with Canberra this season and despite losing the series 2-1, Batkovic topped the scoresheet in all three fixtures after netting 69 points.

The sides met twice last week with Batkovic getting the better of Tolo in Townsville, before a great battle played out in the capital on Saturday afternoon.

After the Capitals' 73-67 win Tolo praised the tough contest against Batkovic, while the veteran centre said Canberra's skipper was not on her radar.

"I know there is a lot of media that has been going on about it ... but I think people emphasise too much on it, it's not something that I focus on. She's definitely not a player I focus on," Batkovic said.

"For us it's a team environment and we know [Lauren] Mansfield is definitely the heart and soul of the Canberra team and I think [Mikaela] Ruef does a really great job, too.

"She's a big piece of their puzzle who just absolutely is a hustle player, she's after everything, scraps the loose boards and she gets second and third efforts for them.

"I think Tolo did a better job this week than last week, she hit a three which I think is her only three for the whole season, so she got lucky there.

"For us it's not really focusing on that one specific player [Tolo], it's more two or three of those [other] players we worry about."

Canberra's crucial victory on Saturday snapped the Fire's five-game winning streak and puts the sixth-placed Capitals within one win of the finals-bound top four.

Townsville also remain in the playoff picture in fifth as it tries to become the first club to win three consecutive WNBL championships since Adelaide Lightning from 1994-96.