The Bendigo Spirit appear destined for the WNBL wooden spoon after they suffered an 11-point loss to the University of Canberra Capitals on Thursday night.
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The Capitals’ 91-80 victory lifted them above the Spirit into seventh place on the ladder with a 4-13 record.
The Spirit (3-13) sit on the bottom of the table after losing four-straight matches.
The Spirit’s lack of depth and defence again came back to haunt them.
The Caps had seven players score eight points or more in an even team performance.
The Spirit had an unhealthy reliance on its starting five and that took its toll in the second half.
The Spirit trailed by just one point at the final change, but ran out of legs in the last quarter.
Import Betnijah Laney was gallant in playing all 40 minutes of the match for 14 points, seven rebounds and seven turnovers.
Nadeen Payne, Gabe Richards and Rachel Banham all played more than 34 minutes of court time and, understandably, tired down the stretch.
Banham led the Spirit’s offence with 20 points on eight-of-11 shooting. After struggling from the perimeter last round, Banham responded strongly by connecting on her first six field goal attempts.
Payne had 19 points and seven rebounds and Richards added 18 points and 10 boards, but it was the other end of the court that proved to be the Spirit’s downfall.
It was the seventh time this season the Spirit have conceded more than 90 points in a game. The battling Capitals have scored more than 80 points in a match five times this season – three of those against the Spirit.
The Spirit have little time to rest – they jump on a plane on Saturday to head to Sydney to play the Flames
