Canberra Capitals Marianna Tolo and Keely Froling have lashed the WNBL for failing to suspend Sophie Cunningham for the second time this season.
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Cunningham will arrive in Canberra as the No. 1 enemy when the Capitals play the Melbourne Boomers in a knock-out semi-final clash on Wednesday night.
Cunningham appeared to deliberately hit Froling in the face when players clashed in a heated game two in Melbourne on Sunday.
The WNBL fined Cunningham $250, reducing it from $500 after an early plea for "careless, low impact and high contact" to Froling's face.
Cunningham has already been sanctioned this season, fined $500 for "unduly rough play" for an incident involving Maddison Rocci in January.
Cunningham has pleaded guilty on both occasions, but will be free to play in a game that will decide which team advance to the grand final series.
The latest WNBL flop sparked outrage online, with Froling revealing the fine Cunningham will pay covers just a fraction of her surgery costs from a broken nose and fractured cheek.
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"Soooo guess you can hit people in the face now and all you get is a $250 fine, good to know," Froling tweeted.
"And my surgery has cost over $2000 plus more specialist surgery to come maybe the fines could be put towards that."
Tolo, an Australian Opals star, added: "Looking in another direction... Are you kidding me? Liz [Cambage] was looking at the basket here in 2017. Still got a 2 game ban for "unduly rough play" against Bass. Cunningham hit Froling IN THE FACE! And was right in front of her."
To put Cunningham's fine in perspective, Canberra coach Paul Goriss was slapped with a $2500 penalty last year for "inflammatory comments" about refereeing.
The incident has ignited hostilities between the teams, with Cunningham also appearing to mock Canberra players after Melbourne won game two last weekend.
But the Capitals are trying to avoid getting caught up in the emotion as they chase back to back titles.
Focusing on the 23-year-old firebrand could affect their hopes of sealing the grand final berth they desperately crave, and any physical altercations during the game could result in suspensions.
The Capitals are hoping for a near capacity crowd at the AIS Arena and Gorris is confident his side can bounce back from a game two defeat.
"I've watched a lot of video, going back over what we need to do better and looking at the adjustments Melbourne made," Goriss said.
"For us, it's just about being positive and being confident in what we've done all season to be a top two team.
"It's just a matter of making some minor adjustments to what we need to do defensively. We'll be better for game three, definitely, being back in front of our home crowd."
WNBL SEMI-FINAL GAME THREE
Semi-final series two
Wednesday: Canberra Capitals v Melbourne Boomers at AIS Arena, 7.30pm. Tickets from Ticketek.