BENDIGO Spirit heads into enemy territory for Sunday’s WNBL grand final with nothing to lose and a point to prove against firm favourites Townsville Fire.
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Spirit forward Sara Blicavs said her side was still smarting from the 19-point loss inflicted by Fire in the semi-final two weeks ago.
“That hurt a lot,” she said of the match in Townsville that coach Bernie Harrower described as humiliating.
“They beat us by so much but it was probably the best they could play, while we were off our game.
“We have faced their best, but I don’t think they have faced our best this year so we are raring to go - and we really want to win.”
Blicavs said Spirit would be trying hard to curtail tall timber Cayla Francis, who led Fire to victory last time they met with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
Francis and Suzy Batkovic form a two-pronged attack that has served Townsville well this season.
“We think Cayla Francis is the key,” Blicavs said.
“Suzy will always score her points, but Cayla brings so much energy to the court and to their team when she’s playing well and if we can stop her, we will be in there with a good chance.”
Blicavs did not exert her usual influence on the semi-final after getting into foul trouble early, spending only 12 minutes on court.
She was back in the thick of the action much more against Sydney last weekend and is determined to have a big impact again on Sunday.
Spirit also knows the importance of maintaining focus for four full quarters.
“One of our biggest issues this year is having those little lapses,” Blicavs said.
“It’s something we have to fix and we have just one game left to fix it. If we don’t, Townsville will just take off and run us into the ground.”
With their point guard Rachael McCully set to retire and a sell-out home crowd hungry for victory after two consecutive grand final defeats, Blicavs believes Fire will be feeling the heat.
“We are the underdogs this year so we have no pressure on us and nothing to lose, while they have everything riding on their game.
“It’s disappointing not to have a home final, but we are all still pretty excited and we’re going to put absolutely everything into this game.”
Tip-off is at 3pm local time.
