Spirit complete gruelling road trip by snuffing out the Flames
The Bendigo Spirit have started off 2025 with a bang, defeating the Sydney Flames by 21 points at Qudos Bank Arena to successfully complete the ‘road trip from hell’.
The Spirit have been on the road since Christmas, playing three games in seven days across all corners of the country – Adelaide, Townsville, and now Sydney. They made it three wins from as many matches, with the 92-71 win over the Flames.
It was a very similar margin last time both teams played (also in Sydney); 90-71, with the result then also going in favour of the Spirit. However, in that encounter, both teams looked quite different – the Spirit were without captain, Kelsey Griffin, and whilst the Flames had Mikaela Ruef in action back in November, they were without Tahlia Tupea, who suited up tonight.
With the first match of 2025 marking the beginning of Round 10 of the 2024/25 Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) season, it also meant that there are just 36 games remaining in the season proper. Fittingly, the Spirit came out with a finals-like intensity, having made three triples less than halfway through the term, and adding another one to that tally just a minute later.
It was an offensive-heavy first term from both teams – with both teams impressively shooting in excess of 60% – with the huge quarter time score of 31-24 not only setting the Spirit up with an initial seven-point lead, but also setting the game up for a potentially record final score.
The Spirit pulled away even further in the second quarter, winning it 25-17 to take a 15-point lead into the main break. It was an even yet impressive spread of points among the key Spirit personnel at half time, with Griffin, Sami Whitcomb and Veronica Burton all tallying double figures individually. Whitcomb – after suffering a heavy knock in the first term which saw her briefly come from the court – was particularly impressive, especially from the charity stripe, where she has shot at 91.2% for the season thus far.
The Flames started the second half well, looking to make amends for their nine first half turnovers in particular, however, Bendigo were still coming at them hard. As usual Marianna Tolo was deadly in the paint, but also has exceptional low passing – no mean feat for the 196-centimetre centre. The Spirit were – aptly – smothering the Flames with their defence, winning their third consecutive quarter 26-12 – more than double the Flames’ score for the term – to take a 29-point lead into the final change.
Continuing his excellent player management shown throughout the season, Spirit head coach, Kennedy Kereama, staggered bringing his bench players onto the court throughout the final term, but the damage was already done, with the Spirit starting five contributing 73 of the team’s 92 points for the evening. The Flames went on to win the quarter, 18-10, narrowing the final margin, but the post-match headlines were all about the Spirit.
Griffin showed how much she has been missed in the early part of the season, notching a double-double to again be named Player of the Game (18 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals). She was one of five Spirit players to reach double figures for the game, alongside Burton (20 points, 5 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks and a rebound), Whitcomb (18 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds and a steal), Tolo (17 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds and a steal), and Abbey Wehrung (14 points, 2 assists and a rebound), highlighting the incredible depth of the squad.
Celeste Taylor led the stat sheet for the Flames, equal top-scoring for the match with 20 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, a steal and a block.
The Spirit will now return home to Bendigo and enjoy a relative break before their next game on January 12. Ironically, their next match will again come against the Flames, but this time on the Spirit’s home turf – in Mildura.
Tip-off at the Mildura Sporting Precinct will be at 3pm AEDT, with tickets now available to purchase online.