The Bendigo Spirit's nightmare season hit a new low on Saturday night when they suffered a 58-point thumping from the Townsville Fire.
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The 120-62 scoreline broke records for all the wrong reasons for the Spirit.
It was the heaviest margin in club history, the highest score conceded in club history and a record score for the Fire.
It was another night where everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
Centre Gabe Richards was hampered by injuries to both her hands, while Maddie Wild injured her ankle in the warm-up. It left an already under-sized and under-strength Spirit line-up to contend with the biggest frontcourt in the WNBL.
Not for the first time this season, the Spirit looked a shadow of a WNBL-standard team.
“There’s no issues in the group (off the court), but we were just so disconnected,’’ Spirit coach Simon Pritchard said.
“There was no communication and talk and we continually broke down.
“We couldn’t get our zone defence right, we couldn’t get our man defence right. They couldn’t work together.
“Townsville is so far ahead of us at the moment. They are heading into the play-offs and are a good chance to win the championship. We’re at the bottom of the ladder and the difference between the two teams showed in this game.”
Pritchard conceded the heavy defeats this season had the potential to hurt the Spirit’s brand going forward.
“We need a reaction (from the players) in Friday’s game against Adelaide,’’ Pritchard said.
“I’ve really challenged the players to play together and work together. More results like this one and it does become a problem (to the club’s brand).
“We are so undermanned. We looked like little kids against Townsville. This season has told us about what we have to do as far as personnel is concerned for next season.”
Pritchard said Richards’ injuries summed up the Spirit’s fortunes this season.
“Gabe’s right thumb is no good and she has a knuckle on her left hand that we think is broken,’’ Pritchard said.
“She couldn’t hold the ball. She’ll have a scan on Wednesday.”
The Spirit play Adelaide in Adelaide on Friday night before hosting Sydney Uni in their final game of the season on Sunday afternoon.
