Perth Lynx Preview – Away to Bendigo Spirit

It’s the biggest game of the WNBL season on Wednesday night with first place going on the line when the Perth Lynx continues their road trip away to the Bendigo Spirit.
The Lynx arrive in Bendigo as the hottest team in the WNBL having now won six matches in-a-row and now a seventh consecutive victory on Wednesday night against the Spirit and they will occupy top spot with five games of the regular season remaining.
It all points towards the biggest game of the WNBL season to date with the Lynx coming into the match up with those six straight wins to be sitting on a 12-3 record while the Spirit have also won their past four matches to remain in first place at 13-2.
The two teams have also beaten one another so far this season in the first two meetings so the winner of Wednesday night’s game will claim the series split on the other, and potentially go a long way to securing the regular season championship.
A win for the Lynx will see them sit on the same 13-3 record as the Spirit, but it will mean that Perth has won two of the three games against Bendigo for the season so it will put them in top spot.
It’s the same story for Bendigo and a win for the home team will put them to a 14-2 record and give the Spirit a two-game lead over a Lynx team that would be 12-4, and with only five games to go, that would be significant in them locking in top spot and home court advantage right throughout the playoffs.
The first two meetings between the two top teams this season have been tight affairs too setting the stage further for the Wednesday night match up.
The Spirit won the first encounter at Bendat Basketball Centre 72-66 in a low-scoring grind where former Lynx captain Sami Whitcomb finished with a triple-double.
Perth hit back to win 71-68 in another low-scoring, physical and defensive grind at Red Energy Arena, and now they return to the scene of the crime attempting to repeat the dose and make it seven straight wins with top spot up for grabs.
It’s the second game in almost a week on the road for the Lynx who got to Geelong back on Friday ahead of playing United on Sunday morning Perth time, and ending up winning that game 80-77.
Perth has now headed to Bendigo to prepare for Wednesday night’s match up and while coach Ryan Petrik tried to ensure his team didn’t jump ahead to thinking about the Spirit, it’s only natural instinct to have done so at least a little.
“Coming into this six-day road trip we warned the girls all week to just focus on Geelong, focus on Geelong but we have to take care of Geelong,” Petrik said.
“As soon as we lose to anyone else with Bendigo keeping on winning and Townsville doing the same, that will take away that importance when we play Bendigo.
“So we had to focus on Geelong and make sure we get it right, but human instinct is that in the back of our head you are thinking about Bendigo with the one v two match up, and trying to get first place.
“It’s human instinct to try and move your head forward, and hopefully we put together a much better display on Wednesday.”
As for that win over Geelong on Sunday, there wasn’t a whole lot that Petrik came away happy about aside from that fact the Lynx got the win knowing that a loss there would have meant they were no longer playing for top spot on Wednesday in Bendigo.
“I’m happy to win, I’m not sure we’re happy with how we played at all but in fairness, full credit to Geelong,” Petrik said.
“They had a couple of major pieces out (Monique Conti, Keely Froling) and I thought they played fantastic, and probably deserved to win.
“That’s way too many times this season that I’ve had to say to our girls that good teams can find a way to win games they probably shouldn’t win, and that feels like the seventh or eighth time we’ve done that this year.
“We’ve got to play better than that, but in fairness that was a lot to do with Geelong.”
CYGNETT WNBL SEASON 2024/25
Round 1 – Perth Lynx v Bendigo Spirit
Venue – Red Energy Arena, Bendigo
Tip-off – Wednesday January 15, 4pm AWST
How to watch – Live on ESPN2, Kayo