Heading into their first home game of the WNBL season at the Bendigo Stadium 0-2 and coming off a 27-point hiding from Melbourne in Geelong the previous night, the Spirit blew the Lynx off the court after half-time in a 106-71 win.

The game was the 244^th match the Spirit has played in their WNBL history.

Only their score of 107 – also against Perth – on November 22, 2008, surpasses Saturday’s tally of 106, with those two the only games in the Spirit’s history where they have reached triple figures.

In a Fox Sports televised match, the blowout came after what had been an even and entertaining first half where no side had been able to gain the upper hand.

The Spirit held a 42-41 advantage at the main break after a first half in which the lead changed 12 times.

But what unfolded in the third quarter was a Spirit scoring barrage that the Lynx were powerless to stop.

Spirit import Rachel Banham opened the Spirit’s third quarter scoring with a three-pointer in what was a sign of things to come.

Banham’s shot was the first of seven three-pointers the Spirit nailed in the third term in what was a scoring rampage of 43 points.

The star of the barnstorming third term for the Spirit was Nadeen Payne.

With five points to her name at half-time, Payne exploded in the third term with 17, which included a trio of three-pointers.

As well as Payne’s 17, the Spirit’s 43 points for the quarter also included 13 from Banham, nine to Betnijah Laney, and two each to Kelsey Griffin and Gabe Richards.

At one stage the Spirit advanced their score from 49 to 61 with four three-pointers.

By three quarter-time the Spirit’s advantage had ballooned out to 85-58.

And the Spirit didn’t take the foot off the throat of the Lynx in the final term, outscoring Perth 21-13 to make it 64-30 after half-time.

The Spirit finished 12-of-21 from three-point range, with Banham (4-of-8), Payne (3-of-3) and Laney (3-of-4) combing for 10.

Ashleigh Spencer scored the final points of the game for the Spirit, and in doing so became the ninth player to score for Bendigo, which had all 12 players get court time.

Import Laney finished with a game-high 27 points for the Spirit, which included 15 in the first half, while she also dished out nine assists and had four steals in a brilliant first outing on her new home court.

Payne’s 24 points were a career-high in her 27^th game for the Spirit, while Banham (19) and Griffin (17, eight rebounds) – who returned to the side after missing Friday night’s hiding from Melbourne – also scored in double figures.

The Spirit did a superb job in shutting down Perth scoring machine Sami Whitcomb, who was held to just 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting.

The Spirit (1-2) and Lynx (0-3) meet again this Thursday night in Perth.