"The girls have done a good enough job about wording her up about Kelly [Wilson] and how good she is and the match-up she is going to have," Goriss said.

The Capitals will clash with a key piece of last season's WNBL title win when they collide with the Bendigo Spirit at the Ballarat Sports Centre on Friday night.

Work commitments in Bendigo saw Wilson shift to the Spirit this season having helped the Capitals to a drought-breaking championship win last summer.

Wilson's departure coupled with the loss of Leilani Mitchell sparked a major change in Canberra's makeup this season.

The arrival of French point guard Olivia Epoupa has gone a long way towards plugging the gap with the 25-year-old averaging a league high 3.4 steals per game.

Goriss says the prospect of locking horns with one of the WNBL's most seasoned campaigners will be far from daunting for a star import that has jumped at every challenge in Canberra.

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"Olivia is a great student of the game and a competitor. We've done our scout work on Kelly, but she is only one part of 10 people we have got to manage and defend," Goriss said.

"Kelly is a big part of our scout and what we have got to do because she is such a great player.

"It has changed with Kelly and Lei out, when you take the amount of games between Kelly and Lei, their success in the WNBL and their knowledge of the game.

"It has been a learning process for us in getting Oli up to speed with the style, with opposition players, how we defend, and how it's refereed in Australia too.

"She has come into her own, she prepares in her own special way."

A clash with Wilson will give Capitals point guard Maddison Rocci a chance to lock horns with one of her former mentors.

There have been moments in which Rocci has had to pinch herself as she learnt from some of the WNBL's finest, moments where she looks around and thinks "am I really here?"

But now she has emerged as an impressive starter for Canberra during a 7-2 start to their championship defence.

Rocci is quickly finding her feet on offence in a huge boost to Canberra's chances of a sixth consecutive win.

"Maddy has had Nat Hurst, she's had Kelly, she's had Lei. She's had some good mentors bringing her along and she gets up for those kinds of battles," Goriss said.

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"There is a little bit of nerves at the start but coming against those players, it's master and apprentice.

"So far so good, she had a hitout against Lei a couple of weeks ago and that was good for her to get games against people she admires and has worked with.

"I've noticed in practice, she is finding ways she can score within our offence and to attack the basket, and not just necessarily be a facilitator.

"She is coming into her own, she is comfortable about where she fits within our group, and where she can get shot opportunities and create for herself a little bit.

"She is just feeling comfortable at the offensive end about where she fits."

WNBL ROUND EIGHT

Friday: Bendigo Spirit v Canberra Capitals at Ballarat Sports Centre, 7pm.