Spirit lock in finals berth with win over Flames

After missing the finals for the past nine seasons, the Bendigo Spirit have confirmed their appearance in the 2024/25 Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) playoffs, after securing an 18-point win over the Sydney Flames at their ‘home away from home’ in Mildura.
This sees the Spirit remain atop the ladder at the conclusion of Round 11, having won 13 games of 15 played. They are closely followed by the Perth Lynx in second position (12 wins from 15 games), with the Townsville Fire (9 from 14) and Sydney Flames (5 from 13) following in third and fourth position respectively.
It was a unique situation for both teams, who both played their last game 10 days ago – against each other. Despite not having the best record on the road this season (1-4 ahead of this match), the Flames came out firing in the first term, looking like a team who weren’t going to be intimidated by a side on top of the ladder. This resulted in a free-flowing and high-scoring first term, which the Spirit won; 28-21. The Flames were getting lots of good looks at the basket, however small mistakes at inopportune times meant they couldn’t capitalise on their hard work. Still, it was a great team effort by the visitors throughout the first quarter, who had six individual players make their mark on the scoreboard in the first ten minutes of the game.
The Flames came out with the same energy at the start of the second term, but the Spirit weren’t perturbed, chipping away at the scoreboard as they gradually kept increasing their lead. In a physical encounter, the Spirit managed keep the Flames at arm’s length, extending their lead to 11 at the main break, after winning a lower-scoring term; 17-13. The Spirit already had two players – Veronica Burton and Kelsey Griffin – in double figures by half time, whilst Sami Whitcomb was just behind them with nine points to her name.
The Spirit stepped it up a notch when they returned to the court for the second half, mirroring the gap between themselves and the Flames on the ladder, on the court. They increased their lead to a game-high margin over and over again, until they led by 21 points at the final break (which was ironically the final margin between the two teams when they last met 10 days ago), winning the quarter convincingly; 24-14.
Despite the fact that the Flames won the final term – 14-11 – the Spirit’s eventual 80-62 win highlighted what a well-oiled machine the Bendigo outfit truly are. Off the back of a week-long road trip to Adelaide, Townsville and Sydney, coach Kennedy Kereama again took care in managing his more experienced players once the game was iced. The match finished with only one of the Spirit’s starting five still on the court, whilst 70% of the Spirit’s travelling list still played 20+ minutes.
US guard Burton was once again named Player of the Game, equal top-scoring for the game with 18 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block to her name. She was ably matched by Whitcomb, who also recorded 18 points, along with 6 rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Shaneice Swain led the charge for the visitors, finishing with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks and an assist.
Once again highlighting the incredible depth in their squad, the Spirit finished with four players in double figures – Burton, Whitcomb, Casey Samuels (12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block) and Griffin, who was again agonisingly close to a double-double (12 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, an assist and a block) – with Marinna Tolo just behind them with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.
Meanwhile on Kelly Wilson’s stat sheet, she recorded two assists for the evening, setting up a potential fairytale evening in front of a Bendigo home crowd on Wednesday evening, where she needs just one more assist to break Kristen Veal’s all-time WNBL record.
In an already tantalising match-up, the Spirit will face off against the second ranked Perth Lynx at Red Energy Arena on Wednesday night to kick off Round 12, in a top-of-the-table clash that could have a significant impact on the location of the playoffs.
Tip-off will be at 7pm AEDT, with tickets available for purchase via Ticketek.