Spirit sweep United to secure Minor Premiership

Bendigo Spirit have cemented top spot on the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) ladder for the 2024/25 regular season, after downing Geelong United on their home turf by 21 points to kick off Round 14.
It was billed as a game with a lot on the line for both teams – Geelong needed to win as the competition for the fourth and final spot in the playoffs heats up, whilst another win for Bendigo would see them clinch the minor premiership.
It was a hot start by the hosts, who led by as much as seven points during then first quarter, before the Spirit pegged them back to the point where they still held a slender one-point lead at the first break.
The Spirit began to make their move in the second term, which they won – 30-22 – to take a seven-point lead into the main break. United absolutely dominated the offensive rebounds count (they finished with 21 to 10 for the match), however their shooting – particularly from beyond the arc – let them down. For the match, the Spirit’s three-point shot percentage was 32.3%, whereas Geelong – who didn’t make their first three-pointer until halfway through the second term – was just 13.6%. Spirit also were significantly better from the free throw line than their opposition, shooting at 89.5% compared to Geelong at 52.9%.
After the main break, the Spirit pulled out all the stops, keeping United to just 20 points for the second half. The Spirit won the third term narrowly – 17-15 – before absolutely dominating Geelong in the final quarter – 17-5 – to notch a healthy 81-60 win.
In yet another Player-of-the-Game performance, Sami Whitcomb top-scored for the Spirit, gathering another 20 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals to her name. Despite being held tightly thanks to some relentless Geelong defence in the first half, Veronica Burton was again huge for her team, finishing with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block.
In total, the Spirit had four players reach double figures, again highlighting the great depth of scoring ability across the list. Along with Whitcomb and Burton, Kelsey Griffin had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist, whilst Marianna Tolo managed 11 points, 2 rebounds, an assist and a block, despite being on the court for just 15 minutes due to foul trouble.
Geelong also showed the depth in their list despite missing their skipper Keely Froling for the remainder of the season due to injury, with four of their own players reaching double digits, including Haley Jones, who top-scored for the match with a double-double: 23 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal.
With Asha Nightingale and Lavinia Cox unavailable for the Spirit due to the fact that they are currently representing Victoria at the 2025 Under-20 National Championships, the Spirit were buoyed by the return of Ash Hannan to their line-up, who played her first game since November 10, after having various troubles with concussion and injury.
Post-match Spirit head coach, Kennedy Kereama, said he was proud of his group in what he knew would be a tough encounter.
“I’m really proud of the group and how they continue to rally and find ways against teams that are competing and fighting for the opportunity to play finals themselves. We certainly know that [when] you play any Chris [Lucas]-coached team it’s going to be a tough, gritty game…he’s coached probably three times as many games as I’ve coached in this League and his teams always play gritty, tough basketball… Geelong rebounded the ball exceptionally well today, but I thought out group did a really good job of managing the conditions.”
The Spirit will host their final home game of the regular season this Sunday, February 2, when they take on the Southside Flyers at Red Energy Arena in Bendigo.
Although both teams currently sit at opposite ends of the ladder, last year’s Champions will be a dangerous opponent for the Spirit, with the Flyers being one of just two sides to have defeated the ladder leaders so far this season.
Tip-off will be at 12.30pm AEDT, with tickets now available for purchase via Ticketek.