Not only did the Spirit return to the winner’s list with a seven-point victory at home over Melbourne, but the two teams Bendigo is in a three-way play-off fight with – Townsville and Canberra – were beaten in thrillers by a combined three points.

Those three results combined have the fifth-placed Spirit (11-9) back on level-pegging with the fourth-placed Townsville (11-9), with Canberra now at 10-9.

At the Bendigo Stadium on Saturday night, the Spirit ended their four-game losing streak with a gritty 76-69 victory over Melbourne.

Coming off the bench, import Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe was at her dynamic best with a double-double of a season-high 27 points to go with 10 rebounds.

After missing the previous three games with a hip injury, Kerryn Harrington returned to the line-up and scored 13 points, while Gabe Richards added 12 points and captain Kelsey Griffin combined seven points with a game-high 11 rebounds.

Both teams had plenty of practice from the free-throw line, combining for 66 shots from the charity stripe – the Spirit shooting 27-of-32 and the Boomers 29-of-34 in a game where 51 fouls were called.

The Spirit plays Townsville in a massive home game next Sunday from 3pm.