The Australian Pork Bendigo Spirit were under the pump for the majority of their two WNBL matches over the weekend, but still walked away with two wins.

On Saturday, the Spirit rallied from a poor start to defeat Canberra 67-60 at Bendigo Stadium, while the Melbourne Boomers led the Spirit at every change on Sunday before the defending champions went up a gear in the final quarter and won 76-67.

“We didn’t play great, but we still managed to get two wins which is a good sign for us going forward,’’ Spirit coach Bernie Harrower said.

“We’re still trying to find our feet, it’s only been two weeks that we’ve had our whole group together.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but this weekend was a great help with team chemistry and running though our offensive and defensive sets.

“Defensively, we kept both teams to below 70 points which is where we want to be.”

The standout for the Spirit over the two games was Gabe Richards.

Against the Capitals, Richards scored 20 points on 10-12 shooting to go with eight rebounds and three assists.

She backed up with 21 points, 13 boards and three assists in the win over the Boomers.

“It was great for Gabe to play well,’’ Harrower said.

“She didn’t great against Townsville last week and she lost a bit of confidence.

“She responded really well this weekend.”

While Richards was consistent across the two games, it was Belinda Snell who won the game for the Spirit on Sunday.

With the Spirit trailing the Boomers by three points at the final change, Snell sparked her side with a phenomenal individual performance in the last term.

In the final 10 minutes the Opals forward scored 13 points, including three three-point bombs, grabbed five rebounds, had one assist and one block.

Snell was 4-5 from behind the three-point line for the game on her way to 18 points.

Sara Blicavs added 13 points for the Spirit, while Kelsey Griffin overcame early foul trouble to add nine points and eight rebounds.

The Spirit returns to Bendigo Stadium this Thursday night to host the Dandenong Rangers.

The much-hyped Rangers lost both of their matches at the weekend to slip to a 1-2 record.

“The competition is so tight this year,’’ Harrower said.

“Every game is tough. That’s why it was so important for us to get the two wins this weekend.”