The Capitals were left baffled and privately fuming after the Boomers sent a complaint to the WNBL following an on-court clash between Ardossi and Olympian Rachel Jarry last Saturday night.

Ardossi must now front a WNBL tribunal despite the match referees ruling there was nothing unsavoury about the incident.

No complaint was lodged after the match, but the Boomers notified the WNBL on Monday that they wanted the incident investigated.

The Canberra Times has seen footage of the clash. Ardossi runs to grab a rebound with her right arm out-stretched and collides with Jarry and another Boomers player.

Jarry falls to the ground and is unable to get up.

It was inevitable the pair would run into each other, but Ardossi did not raise her elbow in the contest or intentionally take Jarry out.

The WNBL is yet to finalise when Ardossi will face the tribunal, but it is hoped common sense will prevail and she will be cleared.

It is unknown what penalty she faces, but the Capitals would be left seething if she were suspended after what appears to be an innocuous collision.

The Capitals fear the Boomers are trying to attack Ardossi's reputation.

Ardossi is a tough player, but she has a clean record and was going for a loose ball before colliding with Jarry.

Jarry is regarded as one of the toughest players in the WNBL and has a reputation of holding nothing back when fighting for the ball.

The incident adds more spice to the rivalry between the teams that played in three consecutive grand finals from 2008-09 to 2010-11.

The Capitals won the first two with the Boomers taking revenge in the 2010-11 championship match.

It's not the first time the Boomers and the Capitals have been caught in an off-court battle.

In the 2010-11 finals series, the Boomers accused the Capitals of adopting ''tunnelling'' tactics to curb the influence of 203 centimetre Elizabeth Cambage.

At the time, the Boomers said in a statement: ''there is no dirtier act in the game''.

Tunnelling is a practice in which a defending player takes out an opponent's legs when they're driving to the basket, or puts herself in a position, not necessarily intentionally, where there is the potential to do so.

The Boomers believed that Nicole Hunt was trying to run under Cambage's legs. However, no further action was taken as Hunt was simply trying to get out of the way.

Meanwhile, the Capitals will have their last pre-season hit-out tonight when they take on an emerging Chinese team and recruit Sam Norwood wants to use Lauren Jackson's absence to show coach Carrie Graf she can shoulder a championship workload.

Norwood, 23, was lured to Canberra by the opportunity to train with Graf and Jackson after spending the first three seasons of her WNBL career in Perth.

TONIGHT

Canberra Capitals v China B at Belconnen Basketball Stadium, 5.45pm.