After defeating title fancy the Melbourne Boomers in round one, the Spirit thumped the Dandenong Rangers 87-65 at Bendigo Stadium in round two.

A brilliant 26-12 third quarter surge broke the game open for the Spirit and they landed the knockout blow with a dominat final term.

"We forced them to do stuff in the half court that they really didn't want to do,'' an elated Spirit coach Simon Pritchard said.

"Credit to them (Dandenong), it was their second game in two days. 

“We knew if we could keep the game close in the first half that they would fatigue in the second half."

The Spirit's team defence stifled the Rangers in the second half, while their offensive execution, particularly inside the paint, was too much for the visitors to handle.

Import centre Becca Tobin was outstanding for the Spirit.

She scored 21 points on 9-11 shooting and added 11 rebounds, three asists, two blocks and one steal for good measure.

"I knew the quality of Becca, I just need to get the synergy between her and Nadeen a bit better,'' Pritchard said.

"I think we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg at the moment... I think we'll see even more from her in the next few weeks."

Back-up centre Louelle Tomlinson was just as efficient offensively, with 10 points on 3-4 shooting.

While Tobin and Tomlinson did the damage on the interior, it was point guard Nat Hurst who was the assassin from the perimeter.

Hurst scored 18 points on 7-8 shooting, including a perfect 4-4 from behind the three-point arc.

Nadeen Payne added 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Marina Whittle continued her good start to the season with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Pritchard credited his side's stunning start to the season to an extensive pre-season program.

"We deliberately did a lot of work in the off-season,'' he said.

"Tonight was our 10th game together - eight in the pre-season and two in the regular season. It's paying dividends.

"Luckily we were supported by a lot of people to get away and play those games.

"The other side of it is this great new facility. When we train we have three courts, so we're much more productive and we're training through the day so we're much more rested.

"It's a whole approach. It's what we're doing off the court and the support of BSL (Bendigo Stadium Limited) has been tremendous."

Pritchard said the team chemistry in the new-look group was a key part of the early-season success. 

"The girls are very coachable,'' he said.

"They want to be coached, they want to get better. Not to say our previous teams didn't, but this is just a different group.

"We've done a lot of group dynamics activities that haven't all been necessarily about basketball.

"We're being well led as well. Nadeen Payne is a leader, Becca Tobin is a leader and Nat Hurst is a leader.

"Between the three of them they have more than 1000 games experience."

The Spirit are on the road in Perth and Adelaide next weekend.

WNBL ladder before the final round two match between Perth and Townsville:

Canberra 3-0

Bendigo 2-0

Dandenong 2-1

Townsville 1-1

Adelaide 1-2

Melbourne Boomers 1-2

Perth 0-1

Sydney Uni 0-3