Gemma Potter's left-handed lay-up wasn't exactly the kind of play that was going to steal the show during the Canberra Capitals' 91-83 loss to the Townsville Fire at the National Convention Centre on Tuesday night.

But for a 21-year-old who has come back from two anterior cruciate ligament tears in as many years, her first left-handed lay-up since returning meant something.

"Little things like that people probably don't notice but are still hard things to overcome with an injury," Potter said.

"Just because you're out there playing, it doesn't mean you don't face those triggers in some way. I'm slowly getting over them in each game and tonight was a great step, just to know that I can do it."

Potter finished with a game-high 25 points in Canberra's loss to the competition leaders, which leaves Canberra in last place - still two wins behind Adelaide with three games remaining when the WNBL resumes after the FIBA international window.

"It's huge on so many levels, being happy for her, being proud of her, being excited for her, all the emotions," Capitals coach Kristen Veal said.

"We don't always say them with and in front of Gemma, but it's important she knows how we feel. The whole team is 100 per cent Gemma's fan group.

"To watch her overcome obstacle after obstacle, and get better and have some personal success, but also what she has been doing for the team this whole way through all of that, has been nothing short of amazing and we couldn't be more proud."

The Capitals will now spend a fortnight on the sidelines as the WNBL goes on hold during the FIBA international window, with the Australian squad heading to Brazil for Olympic Games qualifiers.

Capitals star Jade Melbourne is poised to make her first Opals appearance in two years after being included in a 12-player squad for the final qualifying tournament for the Paris Olympics.

The Opals face Brazil, Germany and Serbia, with a top-three finish in their group enough to secure Australia's place at the Olympics.

The Capitals return to action on February 15 against the Bendigo Spirit, before games against the Perth Lynx and Melbourne Boomers round out their season.

Veal hopes the Capitals can finish on a high as they ride a five-game losing streak into the break, with their past three games coming in the space of six days.

"With such a young group, everything is an opportunity to learn, to grow and get better, to get more reps, to discover what isn't working for us, where we need to evolve, where we need to make changes," Veal said.

"Every time we front up, whether it's a win, loss, draw, we play well or don't play well, someone has a night out, the refs go our way, whatever it might be, it's an opportunity for us to seize and to explore in how we get better.

"The road has been challenging but it definitely exposed some things we needed to address and we did that. Coming out tonight we, for the first time in a couple of weeks, looked authentic new era Caps and that's a huge credit to the girls."