The Canberra Capitals want to use their clash with the Adelaide Lightning to send a warning to their WNBL rivals and prove they are not a spent championship force.

And after spending the past four seasons building combinations with Abby Bishop and Suzy Batkovic, Marianna Tolo is prepared for a brutal contest against her ex-Canberra teammates.

Former Capitals and Australian Opals Bishop and Batkovic will suit up for the Lightning in the match at the AIS Arena on Saturday night.

Bishop and Tolo lived together in Canberra for three seasons and the pair won back-to-back championships together in 2008-09 and 2009-10. When Bishop left to join Dandenong last season, Batkovic teamed with Tolo to lift the Capitals into the grand final.

Now Adelaide's dynamic duo will target Tolo and try and prevent the Capitals linchpin from having an impact on the result.

''They will try and tag-team against me or try and trap me,'' Tolo said.

''I'm just going to have to try and lift my game a bit and if they both come at me then there will be someone else open who we'll be able to find. Coming up against two quality bigs will be a big challenge for me and it's exciting to play these games.''

The Capitals ended their four-game losing streak with a win over the Logan Thunder last weekend.

While Tolo was selected in the league's All Star five last season, she has so far struggled to recapture her dominant form as she takes on more responsibility on the court.

Former Olympian Nat Porter has come out of retirement to try to ease the pressure on Tolo and give the Capitals another scoring option.

Tolo is keen to up her offensive workrate and score more points, but she will need Porter and Brigitte Ardossi to step up and help her curb Bishop and Batkovic's impact.

''I guess it's a readjustment again this weekend,'' Tolo said. ''In the Logan game I probably should have made a couple of more shots and I have to take my opportunities.

''I have to take it into Suzy and Abby to try and get them into foul trouble and test their depth.''