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IT TOOK more than 12 months after signing her first WNBL contract for Marena Whittle to finally make her debut, but it was well worth the wait.
The 24-year-old was one of the stars of Bendigo Spirit’s upset season-opening victory against Melbourne Boomers.
Whittle led the Spirit with 21 points and contributed four rebounds and two assists in her adopted team’s 82-72 win over one of the championship favourites at the State Basketball Centre.
She also had four steals among an extraordinary team number of 16, which wreaked havoc defensively on the Boomers.
It was an overdue introduction for Whittle, who spent pretty much all of her initial season in the league with Townsville Fire in 2017-18 sidelined with injury.
While she admitted to being a little daunted early on against the Boomers, Whittle quickly found her rhythm to be a first-half key with 14 points and three steals, as the Spirit turned a six point quarter time deficit into an 18 point lead.
“Being one of only two players playing my first WNBL game, I knew I needed to come on and perform and keep my cool,” she said.
“There was certainly a little bit of (apprehension), but I was also very excited.
“The other girls did a great job to settle my nerves.
“I know this is what I have been working for – even last year – so I couldn’t let myself get too nervous.
“We’d played eight (practice) matches together already, so there was nothing random I was going to see, just a few different faces on the court.”
The Spirit seized control of the contest with a 29-5 second quarter, but had to withstand several second-half surges from the Boomers to win by 10 points.
Fittingly, for a player who led all players on court on the score sheet. Whittle’s three-pointer with seven minutes to play pushed the lead out to 15 points and effectively halted whatever momentum the Boomers had in reserve.
The shooting guard credited the Spirit’s improvement on defence as critical to their second quarter fightback.
“In the first quarter we really let them run on us and weren’t playing great transition defence,” she said.
“Understanding we were only a couple of points down going into the second quarter and knowing there were some flaws in their defence, we were able to really take advantage.
“We moved the ball and found people who were hitting shots … obviously I started driving a little bit more, taking the contact and getting a bit more confidence in me.
“I think that’s how it went for the rest of the team, everyone got their confidence up.”
With the Boomers line-up boosted by a quartet of Opals in Jenna O'Hea, Cayla George, Ezi Magbegor and Steph Talbot, the Spirit went into the contest as long-shots.
Whittle, who has come off a stellar SEABL season with Nunawading Spectres, believed their tag as ‘underdogs’ had lit a fire underneath the playing group and would continue to serve as inspiration in the weeks’ ahead.
“I think based on last year’s season everyone had really written us off … it was especially satisfying to do it in an away game at Melbourne’s home,” she said.
“Getting such a satisfying win and winning as a team is exactly what we needed.
“I know people have written us off, but that has only fuelled the fire.”
The Spirit play their home season opener this Saturday night against Dandenong Rangers, with forward Louella Tomlinson a chance to return to the line-up after missing the Boomers’ clash with a knee injury.
The teams are no strangers to each other after having played twice during the pre-season.
Dandenong was missing Carley Mijovic in those clashes and has recently added former Spirit import Betnijah Laney, who will no doubt be keen to impress in her first clash against of one of her old sides.
Whittle said the Spirit would again need to ‘buckle down’ on defence but would enter the game with confidence.
“I feel if we can play like the way we did on Saturday with only eight people on the court, it will be incredible to see what we can do with 10 healthy bodies,” she said.
Tip-off at Bendigo Stadium on Saturday is at 7pm.