After a seasons where little has gone right, the Spirit scored a stunning 94-90 upset victory over reigning champions the University of Canberra Capitals.

The Spirit basically led from start to finish and withstood a spirited challenge from the third-placed Capitals in the final quarter.

After trailing by as many as 14 points, the visitors cut Bendigo's lead to five points with three-and-a-half minutes to play.

A Demi Skinner three-point bomb followed by a Kelly Wilson steal and lay-up steadied the Spirit ship.

However, the Capitals didn't roll over and they cut the margin to just three points with 58 seconds remaining.

Under immense pressure the Spirit didn't falter.

Tessa Lavey made a couple of key free throws before, fittingly, it was left to Shyla Heal to ice the game for the Spirit.

The young guard showed why she's regarded as one of the rising stars of the competition with a career-best performance.

She made three free throws in the final 21 seconds to take her tally to a team-high 24 points.

Heal was also the equal-leading rebounder for the Spirit with eight.

Carly Ernst continued her great form for the Spirit, scoring 19 points, including three three-point bombs.

Abbey Wehrung (14), Gabe Richards (11) and Lavey (10) also scored in double figures for a Spirit team which played without any imports.

The Capitals, who were without injured star Kelsey Griffin, were best served by Mariana Tolo (26 points and 17 boards) and Keely Froling (22 points and 11 rebounds).

Thanks to Heal and Richards, bench depth was the difference between the two sides.

The Spirit bench outscored the Caps bench 35-8.

After a nine-game losing streak, the Spirit have now won two games in a row to lift their record to 5-12 ahead of next weekend's trip to Perth.

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