They head to Victoria to play top of the WNBL ladder Bendigo Spirit on Saturday and the second placed Dandenong Rangers the following day, but the Capitals have the defending presence and rebounding prowess of Ruef on their side.

The former Stanford University collegiate athlete collected 22 rebounds against the Melbourne Boomers last Friday and leads the league with more than 12 a game.

Ruef was picked in the league's team of the week for her performance and coach Paul Goriss said her tough perseverance at training is paying off.

"She's set the bar pretty high but she comes in and works her backside off every day," Goriss said. "As great as it is it's no surprise to her teammates she can get a stat [22 rebounds] like that because she prides herself on her rebounding and hard work."

Ruef's presence under the ring brings a level of consistency to her game; it allows her to provide impact regardless of how she is feeling with her shooting.

It also allows her to lift her own confidence when the rest of her game is lacking it.

"I don't really care about my stats other than rebounding," Ruef said. "I really like rebounding."

She said it was a way for her to impose her energy and aggression on the court.

"My style of play is to help our team in whatever way I can. And I think rebounding can never be considered selfish, so if your goal is to be a good rebounder then I feel like that can only help your team."

The Capitals are still hurting from their round one loss to Dandenong when they surrendered a strong lead to go down by two points in the dying seconds.

"After the should-have, could-have one that was taken away it will be nice to get one back on them," Goriss said. "But we've just got to take care of business against Bendigo before we get too far ahead of ourselves."

JAZMON GWATHMEY FIT FOR ROAD TRIP

Capitals' import Jazmon Gwathmey has been cleared by the team's medical staff to travel to Victoria for the games against Bendigo and Dandenong.

Gwathmey fell heavily in the side's win over Melbourne last weekend hurting her back and was only able to train on Thursday.

But Goriss said he was still unsure if she would be fit enough to take to the court.

"We've been given clearance by the medical staff to be able to take her but what that means, I don't know yet," Goriss said.

"We'll just have to wait and see how she pulls up after practice and after the travel on the road but we're taking her to the view that she's playing."

WNBL ROUND 5

Saturday: Bendigo Spirit v Canberra Capitals at Bendigo Stadium, 7pm

Sunday: Dandenong Rangers v Canberra Capitals at Dandenong Stadium, 2pm