THE Bendigo Spirit showed flashes of their best form on their way to a 97-75 thumping of the Dandenong Rangers at Bendigo Stadium on Thursday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Rangers stuck with the Spirit for most of the first half, but the Spirit blew the game open with an inspiring 26-8 run either side of the main break to set up their 11th-straight win over Dandenong.
"We're getting better with every session we have together,'' Spirit coach Bernie Harrower said.
"We're starting to gel and that showed in the way we played offensively tonight."
Less than a week ago the Spirit looked disjointed as they just did enough to defeat Canberra and the Melbourne Boomers on consecutive days.
Thursday night’s performance was anything but disjointed, particularly at the offensive end of the floor.
Despite the absence of star point guard Kristi Harrower (general soreness), the Spirit’s ball movement and execution was slick and the Rangers had no answers, particularly inside the paint.
Gabe Richards was the major beneficiary of the Spirit’s ball movement.
She was 10-10 from the field on her way to 20 points and six rebounds in just 26 minutes of court time.
Her Opals squad team-mate Belinda Snell nailed four three-pointers on her way to 16 points and seven assists.
Kelsey Griffin (13 points, 10 rebounds and four assists), Sara Blicavs (13 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Chelsea Aubry (10 points, four rebounds) played their part in the demolition job.
Perhaps the most impressive performance of the night came from guard Heather Oliver.
With the Spirit’s defence lacking intensity in the first half, Bernie Harrower turned to Oliver and she didn’t let him down.
Her hustle and energy sparked the Spirit’s defence and she also played a key hand offensively, sinking nine points to go with four rebounds and three assists.
Oliver had an enthralling battle with Dandenong star Cappie Pondexter.
The WNBA star finished with a team-high 17 points, but Oliver made her work hard for her shots.
The Spirit have this weekend off before heading on the road again for the Adelaide-West Coast double.