Richards 16 points and 15 rebounds, Griffin 15 points, five boards and six assists.

4.45pm - Wilson makes two free throws and the Spirit leads 83-77 with 16 seconds left.

Hard to see Bendigo getting beaten from here.

4.44pm - Spirit up 81-77 with 18 secnds left.

4.38pm - Richards puts the Spirit back n frnt 79-77 with 1.27 to play. Flames have the ball. Time for some defence.

4.36p - Griffin puts Spirit in front with a jump shot.

4.34pm - Scores level with 4.30 to play.

4.28pm - Huge momentum swing. Gabe Richards misses oepn lay up and Flames sweep forward and score. Spirit should have led by 7, but margin is now 3. 73-70 with 6.23 to play.

3-4 time - Kelly Wislon has 25 points to lead the Spirit to a 70-62 lead over Sydney Uni.

Richards and Griffin have 12 each.

Crowd getting involved. spirit looking good.

4.18m - Spirit up 66-61 with 1.11 to play in 3rd term.

4.14pm - Flames back within 3 with 3 mins to play i 3rd.

4.07pm - Spirit's defence stifling Flames. Spirit up 57-52 with 5.25 to play in 3rd.

4pm - Ready to go for third term. Spirit have shown flashes of their best, but can't seem to produce it consistently.

Half time - The Spirit lead Sydney 53-50 at the main break.

Physical second term. Spirit appeared to be on the wrong end of a few referee decisions and non-decisions.

Kelly Wilson on fire for the Spirit in second term. She has 14 points, including 3 3-pt bombs.

Griffin has 12 and Richards 10.

Flames are sharing the load with 8 players scoring more than 3 points. Mitchell has 10 and Ebzery 9.

3.40pm - A Kelly Wilson 3 puts Spirit. ack in front 43-41 with 2.30 to play n 2nd term.

3.35pm - 15-3 run for the Flames. They lead 39-36. Spirit offence has stalled.

3.32pm - Flames on fire. Spirit lead cut to 1 with 6.38 to play in 2nd.

Quarter time - 4 pts in final 3 seconds gives Spirit a 33-24 lead at the first change.

Spirit defence not great, bt they have sliced the Flames defence on a regular basis.

Richards has 10 pts and Griffin 9. Mitchell has 10 for Flames.

3.21pm - Spirit by 7 wih 1.57 to play in first.

3.16pm - Leilani Mitchell causing the Spirit headaches. She has 9, but the Spirit lead 21-12. Griffin and Ricahrds dominating inside the paint.

3.12pm - wow what a start. Kelsey Griffin is 4-4 and has 9 points and the Spirit lead the Flames 17-6 with 5.56 to play in first term.

Rohanee Cox has job on Griffin, but it s all one way traffic.

3.09pm - Kelsey Griffin goes bang, bang. She is 3-3 and Spirit leads 6-2..

3.05pm - Here we go folks - game time. Grand final berth at stake.

3pm - Crucial for the Spirit that they get off to a good start today. Townsville jumped the Spirit last week. Can't let Sydney get on top early today. Flames hard to stop when they get on a roll.

2.58pm - 7 mins to go in warm up. Congrats to Spirit fwd Sara Blicavs who plays her 50th WNBL game today.

2.54pm - Big crowd building. Team introduction time.

2.50pm - Both teams on court preparing for preliminary final.

Spirit players look relaxed and confident. Plenty of smiles. Will they be smiling in 90 mins time?

Welcome to Bendigo Stadium for the WNBL preliminary final between the Bendigo Spirit and Sydney Uni Flames.

The winner will advance to next Sunday's grand final against the Townsville Fire in Townsville.

The Spirit holds a 2-1 advantage over the flames in their three meetings this year, but the Flames win did come at Bendigo Stadium.

Here's what Spirit coach Bernie Harrower had to say about the big clash 

Tip off is at 3pm.