In a battle to make the WNBL play-offs, the Bendigo Bank Spirit faces the only three teams it hasn’t beaten this season in the final three rounds.
The club has the toughest challenge of all tonight when it hosts top-of-the-table Adelaide Lightning at Bendigo Stadium.
Last weekend the Spirit finished a tough stretch of five of six games on the road with its second win in Bulleen this season.
But while Bendigo has a 2-1 record against the second-placed Boomers, the Spirit has lost to the Lightning in both meetings this season – by nine points at home in round five and by 16 points in Adelaide a fortnight ago.
And it doesn’t get much easier after tonight, with the Spirit facing fellow play-off aspirants Sydney and Logan – teams it played once each and lost to in close matches earlier this season.
It is likely the Spirit will need to win at least two of its final three matches to make the play-offs and the club can give its chances a major boost with a win tonight.
Spirit coach Bernie Harrower said the players could improve their all-round game from the 70-54 loss to the Lightning last month.
“Defence is the key to it, we’ve got to be able to keep them in the 60s (points range),” Harrower said.
“And last time we played our shooting percentage was poor, we’ve got to have the confidence and poise to get that done.”
The Spirit shot at just 26 per cent from the field in Adelaide, on the way to its lowest score for the season.
Stopping the WNBL’s leading scorer Suzy Batkovic will be a huge task for the Spirit, with the Adelaide centre averaging more than 25 points a game this season.
But Bendigo has an excellent recent record against Bulleen’s star centre Liz Cambage and will be looking to use similar tactics against Batkovic tonight.
“In the same vein as (Cambage) we have to defend (Batkovic), she’s difficult to defend straight up, if we can do that as a group we can win,” Harrower said.
Bulleen has one of the most potent attacking line-ups in the league, but Bendigo held the defending champions to just 56 points last weekend.
“It shows you how good we can be when we’re motivated to play,” Harrower said.
The Spirit have repeatedly stepped-up when the season has been on the line and there have been no bigger games at Bendigo Stadium than the next three matches.
Harrower believes the team is set to bring its best performances to its home court.
“Other than Adelaide, the other games (against Sydney and Logan) were on the road and they were early season,” Harrower said.
“We’ve come a long way since then and after wins against Dandenong and Bulleen it’s a matter of carrying that through.
“If we can’t beat them on our home court, we don’t deserve to be there (in play-offs).”
Kristi Harrower, Deanna Smith and Gabrielle Richards have once again been nursed through training this week, but will play tonight.
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