THE Australian Pork Bendigo Spirit players are on notice – maintain your intensity or find yourself on the bench.
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The Spirit produced two contrasting performances on their road trip to Perth and Adelaide over the weekend.
The WNBL defending champions suffered a shock 72-61 loss to the West Coast Waves in Perth on Friday night, before bouncing back with a 76-33 humiliation of Adelaide on Sunday.
“Our defensive intensity against West Coast was just not like the Bendigo Spirit,’’ coach Bernie Harrower said.
“West Coast were very good, but we were not up to standard.
“Against Adelaide we played at the defensive intensity I expect and we made some shots to go with it.
“Now we have to find a way to maintain that defensive intensity. ”
Sunday’s win over Adelaide was highlighted by one of the best quarters of basketball ever produced by the Spirit.
After leading by nine points at quarter-time, the Spirit outscored the Lightning 30-4 in the second term.
“That’s as good as we’ve played since we came into the league,’’ Harrower said.
“Some of the defensive stuff was sensational. The sharing of the ball and the shooting was something special to watch.
“It’s something that you strive for, but you don’t get it too often.”
Sara Blicavs and Maddie Garrick were the stars of the show for the Spirit against the Lightning.
Blicavs scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds in just 23 minutes on court.
Garrick gave the Spirit offence a spark off the bench, hitting three three-pointers in her 17-point haul.
In a pleasing sign for Harrower going forward, the Spirit scored 76 points even though star quartet Kelsey Griffin, Gabe Richards, Kelly Wilson and Kristi Harrower were held to a combined total of eight points.
Belinda Snell hit three three-pointers in her 14 points, while young centre Tayla Roberts relished the extra court time, scoring seven points to go with her 10 rebounds.
“It was great to see the players come in off the bench have a big impact,’’ Bernie Harrower said.
“Everyone played their part and I was able to give the starting five a good rest.”
While the Spirit shot the lights out against the Lightning, they couldn’t buy a basket against the Waves on Friday night.
They made just four of their 23 three-point attempts, with starting five players Lavey, Snell, Blicavs and Griffin a combined 0-11 from behind the arc.
Heather Oliver was the most efficient for the Spirit, hitting all three of her field goals before being forced out of the game with a mild concussion.
The injury also forced her out of the game against the Lightning.
She is expected to return to action next Sunday when the Spirit travel to Melbourne to play Dandenong.
The Spirit thumped the Rangers last weekend, but this time around they'll face Opals star Penny Taylor.
Despite suffering from illness, Taylor returned to the WNBL in style over the weekend, scoring 47 points over two games as the Rangers split their matches against the Townsville Fire and Melbourne Boomers.
The weekend's results left the Rangers on the bottom of the WNBL ladder with a 2-5 record.
The Spirit (4-2) are in third place behind Townsville (3-1) and the Sydney Uni Flames (3-1).
Sunday's game between the Spirit and Rangers starts at 2pm at Dandenong.