From the first tip-off both teams brought high energy onto the court, with the Spirit and Lightning locked at 18 points each by the end of the first quarter.

At half-time Abbey Wehrung's 10-point contribution, in addition to Carley Ernst's eight points helped the Spirit take a narrow five-point lead, 35-30.

In the third, seven points from Demi Skinner helped the Spirit increase the lead to a 10-point buffer going into the final quarter, scores 56-46.

The Spirit's momentum didn't stop in the final quarter and by the buzzer the team held a 13-point lead to take its second win of the season, final scores 67-54.

One of the biggest achievements for the Spirit was to have 37 points off the bench, in comparison to the Lightning's 0.

Spirit coach Tracy York said it was a representation of the team's determination.

"It's a pretty big telling factor that we trust our girls and they all want to play aggressively," York said.

"Any of them have the ability to start a night."

RELATED: Meet the 2019/20 WNBL Bendigo Spirit team

Match MVP Wehrung top scored with 16 points.

"We were disappointed at the loss last weekend so we came out to do our job after a strong week of practice," Wehrung said.

In her first game of the season after returning from injury Becca Tobin shot 12 points and took 12 rebounds to secure a double-double.

Young-gun Skinner also impressed with 11 points and two rebounds.

Shyla Heal finished with eight points, three steals and two rebounds.

The win moves the spirit to a 2-3 record and will fill the team with confidence for the second leg of their double-header weekend against the Southside Flyers.

Bendigo Spirit v Southside Flyers at the Dandenong Stadium on Sunday, tip-off at 5.00pm.

RELATED: Spirit players embrace Bendigo, double-header weekend against Lightning and Boomers

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