The Spirit suffered another heavy defeat on Saturday night, losing 99-62 to the Townsville Fire at Bendigo Stadium.

Two nights after losing by a club record 44 points, the Spirit were outclassed and outplayed by the championship contenders.

The game was over effectively over by quarter time as the visitors opened up a 25-7 lead.

The Spirit, who were without the injured Heather Oliver, showed some fight to win the second quarter by five points before order was restored in the second half.

The highlight for the Spirit was the performance of youngster Ahlise Hurst, who came off the bench to lead the side in scoring.

Hurst connected on her first six field goals on her way to a team-high 15 points on seven-of-eight shooting. Ash Spencer also made an impact off the bench, scoring 12 points.

At the other end of the scale, it was a disappointing night for some of the Spirit’s starters. Nadeen Payne, Ash Karaitiana and Rachle Banham combined for 2-17 shooting. Over the two games for the round, Banham was 1-16 from the field, including 0-9 from behind the three-point arc.

The Spirit (3-12) are back on home court Thursday night against the Canberra Capitals (3-13) in a game that will potentially decide the wooden spoon.