BENDIGO Spirit coach Simon Pritchard has always believed the defensive intensity his side produced in Thursday night’s second half has been within his group.

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WORKED HARD: Ash Karaitiana had two points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks in the Spirit's win over Dandenong on Thursday night.

The Spirit notched their fourth win of the WNBL season on the back of a stingy defensive effort against the Dandnenong Rangers at the Bendigo Stadium.

The Spirit conceded 80 and 75 points in their first two games against the Rangers this season, but gave up just 47 on Thursday night in a 64-47 victory.

The Spirit outscored Dandenong 32-14 in the second half, including 20-2 in the final term.

Not only was it the Spirit’s best defensive effort of the season, it rates among the top 10 in the club’s 259-game WNBL history.

Before Thursday night, the lowest score the Spirit had conceded this season had been 66 against Melbourne, while in eight of their previous 17 games they had given up at least 90 points.

DRIVE: Bendigo's Spirit's Nadeen Payne, who is defended by Dandenong's Carley Mijovic, attacks the basket. Payne scored 16 points. Pictures: LUKE WEST

“We almost kept them to a doughnut (0 points) in the last quarter, so it was nice to see us play that resolute defence and compete really well on the boards and pressure shots,” Pritchard said.

“We’ve always had it in us, it’s just being able to put it together for four quarters.

CHARITY STRIPE: Betnijah Laney shoots a free throw against Dandneong. Laney made 6-of-7 from the free throw line in her 15 points.

“We had a lapse in the second quarter and spoke at half-time about just needing to play great defence and keep our turnovers down, which we were able to do.

“The most pleasing thing was the girls showed some real fight and that’s what we spoke about during our sessions this week.

Bendigo Spirit season results.

“The Spirit is built on the blue collar ethos and working together and tonight we really showed that.”

Having snapped a five-game losing streak with the win, the Spirit are now 4-14 with three games left in the season.

Their next assignment is an away game on Saturday night against championship-contender Townsville (12-6), who they have lost twice to this season by a combined 72 points.