BENDIGO Braves star Tessa Lavey has praised her team-mates resilience and trust in one another after the team averted what would have been a rare loss against Hobart last weekend.
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The Braves were forced to come from eight points down at half time and four points at three quarter time to win 79-72, on the back of a 25-14 final quarter.
Lavey, who starred with 26 points, six rebounds, seven assists, six steals and one block, said the fight-back was testament to the playing group's trust in their system and each other.
"Hobart had a lot of depth and some big girls too - we were a little undersized and they took advantage of that," she said.
"We saw our advantage in the guard position and we took advantage of that in the third and fourth quarters.
"Credit to Hobart, they came out firing and we were down by 13 at one stage.
"It was a really good, gritty win by the girls.
"When we are in that position, (coach Megan Moody) just tells us to trust the system, and trust one another and what we are doing.
"We know we can come out of games like that, we have the experience in our group.
"Most of us have played at a very high level, so we now what we need to do to get back into games like that.
"We just knuckled in, were focused and got the job done."
The Braves, who were without one of their stars Nadeen Payne, got big games also from Kelly Wilson (27 points, five rebounds, 11 assists) and Bianca Dufelmeier (13 points, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal).
Lavey was high in her praise of Dufelmeier, who finished with season highs in minutes played (33.8 compared to her season average of 21), points and rebounds, after being elevated into a starting role.
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"Bianca is really good off the bench for us, she brings that energy," Lavey said.
"For her to step up on the weekend - she started - but she always puts in good minutes. You know what you are going to get out of Bianca.
"We are just fortunate she is on our team and brings that intensity and defensive grit that we really need."
A seventh-straight win thrusts the Braves into a top-two battle against Geelong Supercats (6-1) this Sunday at Bendigo Stadium.
The Supercats, led by Sara Blicavs with 23 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals, were ruthless in a 83-54 demolition of Waverley on the weekend, and with plenty of depth shape as an undoubted threat to the Braves' aspirations of back-to-back championships.
"They have some really great players from the one through to the five, with Zitina (Aokuso), Sara (Blicavs) and Ezi (Magbegor) all six foot something," Lavey said.
"Sara will be in the three-spot, which will be a tough match-up for us.
"But we will look to our experience and hopefully control the match as much as we can."
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