THE Bendigo Spirit have again protected their home court after surviving a WNBL scare from the winless Sydney Uni Flames on Sunday.
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Following a lacklustre first-half shooting performance the Spirit trailed the Flames for majority of the game, but dug deep in the final quarter to prevail 66-64 and improve to 3-0 on their home court.
“What the girls have shown is some resilience... their defence in the fourth quarter from the five minute mark was fantastic,” Spirit coach Simon Pritchard said.
“They did a fantastic job of communicating. Once we gave them a 10-point lead we were going to have to claw that back. That’s the reality of giving a team a lead, it’s going to be a tight game to finish.”
Desperate to notch their first victory, the Flames made a positive start with a pair of three-pointers to take an early lead.
By the end of the first quarter the Flames held a narrow 17-16 advantage, and by half-time had extended their lead to 32-26.
The Spirit was wayward from long-range in the first half, making just three-of-16 three-point attempts.
However, during the third quarter the Spirit lifted their intensity and gained some momentum to tie the game up 47-all at the final change.
The game went down to the wire with scores level 64 apiece when, with four seconds left, the Spirit’s Nadeen Payne converted a pass from Becca Tobin for what proved to be the match-winning basket.
Following a time-out the Flames had one last chance to steal victory or force the game into overtime, but a Tobin steal sealed the win for the Spirit, who are now 5-2.
Pritchard said the Flames’ ability to shoot three-pointers was a hurdle which the Spirit needed to overcome early in the game.
“It’s almost disbelief when you play a side that is such a good three-point shooting team.They can genuinely shoot NBA threes and you don’t see many teams that can do that.”
The Spirit had four players scoring in double figures – Payne (14), captain Nat Hurst (12), Abbey Wehrung (12) and Tobin (11).
“We had four players in double figures, but we also had 14 points off the bench, along with Cassidy McLean’s cameo when she came on, hit a couple shots and played some great defence,” Pritchard said.
“Marena Whittle’s play in the crunch time during the major minutes, her rebounding and aggression was critical. And Louella Tomlinson in the third quarter when we were a little bit stale and stagnant popped in a couple baskets.
“That’s the way we have to operate...we’re a team where the whole pack has to work together to get the best shots.
“It’s pleasing that it happened today, but we need to bring more energy defensively next week.”
Tobin was voted as Bendigo Spirit’s MVP, finishing the game with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block and 3 steals.
Meanwhile, Sydney veteran – and former Spirit championship player – Belinda Snell moved to fourth place on the all-time WNBL scoring list during Sunday’s game in which she finished with 13 points.
The Bendigo Spirit’s next game will be this Friday at the Bendigo Stadium against the Dandenong Rangers from 7pm.
The Rangers (2-4) are coming off a 25-point hiding from the Adelaide Lightning on Saturday.
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