The Canberra Capitals insist they will not be haunted by an "embarrassing" 48-point thumping when they return to Townsville desperate to erase the memory of the second biggest loss in the club's history.
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Veteran Carly Wilson also warned rivals to write the Capitals off at their own peril as the team starts its mission to prove it can be a WNBL title contender without star Lauren Jackson.
A month after the Capitals slumped to a huge defeat in Queensland, they return to play the Townsville Fire on Friday night with their finals hopes dangling close to the edge of disaster.
Another similar performance would see the Capitals torpedoed out of play-off contention for the fourth year in a row.
But even after losing Jackson, who needs more surgery on her troublesome knee, the Capitals are confident they can keep their season alive and shock the title favourite Fire.
"It was very embarrassing having to fly home after losing by 48, this is a chance for us to redeem ourselves and show that we can beat a team like Townsville," Wilson said.
"It's all or nothing. We've got nothing to lose, we've just got to give it a crack and see what happens. Even when we've had Lauren, she's been on limited minutes.
"We took a massive step backwards last week ... now that Loz isn't playing people will think we're not a contender. But we prefer to be the underdog, it gives us an advantage."
The Capitals need to win their last two games of the regular season and rely on the Sydney Flames losing one of their matches to secure a finals berth.
The problem is that Jackson has been ruled out for the rest of the season after managing just six games before succumbing to her injury woes.
Adding salt to the wound is the daunting trip back to Townsville four weeks after the Capitals were blown off the court.
"You can't afford to think about that big loss, we deserved to get absolutely pounded," Jess Bibby said.
"They showed what a championship team plays like, I don't know if they could play any better and we couldn't possible play any worse.
"We've done a few things differently and we'll go in confident that we can get it done."
Captain Abby Bishop will have to stand tall in Jackson's absence, but she faces the huge task of a Townsville double act against Suzy Batkovic and WNBA-bound forward Cayla Francis.
Bibby's glittering career is winding down, with the 35-year-old to notch up her 369th appearance when the Capitals play the Fire.
But she is refusing to think about her last game as she focuses on lifting Canberra into the play-offs.
"We haven't had Loz all year ... you can't underestimate what she's done because she won a couple of games for us," Bibby said.
"There is still a confidence around the group, we just have to get a job done."
The Capitals haven't beaten the Fire this season.
"But the last few weeks they've dropped a couple of games, who knows how they're feeling," Wilson said.
"That's something we can use to our advantage."
WNBL ROUND 16
Friday: Townsville Fire v Canberra Capitals at Townsville RSL Stadium, 8pm.
