In front of a massive crowd on the eve of the annual Bendigo Skin, Ski and Surf Junior Classic, Griffin and Richards combined for 53 points in the Spirit’s 81-66 victory over the Sydney Uni Flames at the Bendigo Stadium.

It was a victory that improved the Spirit’s record to 12-7, moved them into the top four at the expense of Dandenong and avenged their three-point loss to the Flames in their previous encounter a month ago.

In what was a fast-paced, entertaining contest, the Spirit extended their advantage at each break en-route to the 15-point victory.

Griffin set the tone for the Spirit with a superb opening quarter in which she scored 10 points to go with four rebounds.

By half-time the star had already recorded a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Spirit held a three-point advantage at the long break.

Griffin finished the game with a season-high 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field, while also hauling down 15 rebounds to go with three steals.

Richards’ outstanding form continued with another dominant performance.

Richards backed up her 32 points last game against Melbourne with 25, including 10 in the pivotal third quarter when the Spirit broke away from the Flames.

After leading 41-38 at half-time, the Spirit outscored Sydney Uni 20-13 during the third quarter to open up a 10-point buffer heading into the final term.

And the Spirit were quick to kill off any hopes of a Flames’ comeback, opening the final term with a 7-2 run to extend the margin to 15 points.

As well as Richards’ 10 points, she also grabbed 13 rebounds.

The Spirit dominated the Flames on the boards, winning the rebound count 46-27.

Kerryn Harrington scored 11 points for the Spirit, including three three-pointers, while Belinda Snell dished out nine assists, but had an off-shooting night with just four points – all coming in the last quarter.