Mikaela Ruef is on fire: Canberra Capitals bring down WNBL ladder leaders

The resurgent Capitals orchestrated a stellar turnaround to claim a 13-point win over the Adelaide Lightning at The Lights Community and Sports Centre on Sunday.

Ruef stole the show with a season-high 20 points while Britt Smart was lethal from long range to secure the 80-67 victory over one of the competition heavyweights.

"I've given [Ruef] some kudos after the last couple of games because she has been huge for us. She's found her role in the group and what she does well," Capitals coach Paul Goriss said.

"She made some shots today but it's been her effort to screen, rebound, get loose balls, just being an offensive threat when she needs to be; her work ethic has been the highlight of what she brings to this team.

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"She has found her niche and her role within our team again after a slow start. That's really helped us at both ends of the floor."

This marks Canberra's third win on the trot, but arguably their best of the summer. Adelaide have been one of the competition's benchmark teams but managed just 27 second half points to the Capitals' 47.

"They're the standard. They'd won six in a row at the top of the ladder. They were the standard, the blueprint at the top of the league," Goriss said.

"We knew coming in here that both teams had travelled to Adelaide so we were in the same predicament with how we prepared.

"I thought this was a statement game for us, about whether we were going to be a legitimate title contender going against the best team in the league right now. It was a good one to get on the road because they're not easy to get on the road against good teams, especially teams like Adelaide."

Adelaide entered the clash averaging 17 turnovers per game. That much was music to the ears of Capitals excitement machine Britt Sykes, but it was clear from the outset this was a much tougher task than the ones Canberra had faced since Goriss' return.

The Capitals took a slender one-point lead into the first break before a second quarter slip-up saw them fall seven points behind at half-time.

Whether Canberra could rein in Adelaide's Alanna Smith and Suzy Batkovic Medal contender Steph Talbot were among the burning questions leading into the second half.

They managed to do just that and steal the lead in the process, taking a two-point advantage into the final quarter before Smart fired a dagger into Adelaide's chances.

Smart notched five threes for the second time in as many games to continue her impressive run from beyond the arc while Ruef and Kelsey Griffin dominated the paint with 10 rebounds apiece.

"We weren't happy at half-time with our first half. We gave them too many offensive rebounds and way too many loose balls. Their effort was at a higher rate than what ours was in the first half and we addressed those things," Goriss said.

"We tweaked some things offensively but at the defensive end of the floor we really made an imprint when we changed, going into that zone really paid dividends for us.

"We moved the ball better offensively, we got better shots, the ball was sticking to hand. Up front, Kelsey, Mik and Bunts [Alex Bunton] were great, and then Smart making shots. Slim [Sykes] was great for us at the other end, being able to be another ball handler and creator."

AT A GLANCE

WNBL round nine: CANBERRA CAPITALS 80 (Mikaela Ruef 20, Britt Smart 17, Britt Sykes 13) bt ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 67 (Alanna Smith 12, Taylor Ortlepp 12, Steph Talbot 11) at The Lights Community and Sports Centre. Crowd: 230.

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