The 16-point victory at the Wayville Sports Centre improved the Spirit’s record to 7-5.

The Spirit pulled away from the Lightning with a dominant second half.

The clash had been in the balance at half-time, with the Spirit holding a five-point advantage, 47-42.

The Lightning cut the deficit back to three with the first two points of the third quarter through Mikaela Ruef.

However, an 8-0 run by the Spirit kickstarted by a Belinda Snell jump shot stretched Bendigo’s lead out to 11.

And from there the Lightning got no closer than seven, while the Spirit lead grew to as many as 19 points during the final term.

It was an even offensive effort from the Spirit, with four of the five starters scoring in double points.

Snell (19), Kerryn Harrington (18), Gabe Richards (17) and Kelsey Griffin (16) combined for 70 points for the Spirit.

Snell combined her game-high 19 points with seven rebounds, five assists and four steals in a complete performance.

Harrington nailed four three-pointers in her 18 points.

Kelly Wilson dished out eight assists for the Spirit, while import Joy Burke chipped in with eight points in 11 minutes off the bench.

Saturday’s result was a 24-point turnaround on their November 1 meeting in the same building, which the Lightning won by eight.

The Spirit are heading interstate again next weekend for a pair of games in Queensland.

The Spirit will take on their grand final foes of the past three years, Townsville, on Friday night, before backing up on Sunday afternoon against WNBL newcomers South East Queensland Stars.

Friday night’s game in Townsville will be Spirit star Snell’s 250^th WNBL match.

Weekend WNBL results: Dandenong 85 def Sydney 65; Melbourne 66 def Canberra 61; Townsville 91 def Perth 81; Bendigo 89 def Adelaide 73; Perth 85 def South East Queensland 64.