The Bendigo Spirit snapped a four-game losing streak and moved off the bottom of the WNBL ladder when they outlasted the University of Canberra Capitals in Melbourne on Saturday night.
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The Spirit trailed by 10 points at quarter-time and were still behind on the scoreboard heading into the final term.
Unlike the previous week when they crumbled in the final term, the Spirit played smarter than the Capitals and executed better down the stretch to record an 83-80 win.
The Spirit trailed by six points with two minutes remaining before import Betnijah Laney and forward Nadden Payne stepped up when their team needed it most.
Laney made a jump shot and and lay-up in consecutive plays to cut the margin to two points and Payne nailed a crucial three-point bomb to give the Spirit the lead with 40 seconds remaining.
Kate Gaze missed a jump shot for the Capitals, but they grabbed the offensive rebound.
The Capitals looked to regain the lead,but Keely Froling was called for travelling with 22 seconds left.
The Capitals were forced to foul the Spirit and Gabe Richards showed her class by nailing two free throws under pressure to extend the lead to three points with 17 seconds remaining.
Canberra’s Mistie Bass was fouled by Laney attempting a three-point shot and she received three free throws. She only made two free throws and the Spirit led by one point with four seconds left.
The Capitals fouled Spirit guard Rachel Banham straight away, but the American iced the game by making both her free throws.
