Bendigo Spirit bounces back

By Luke West
Updated November 7 2012 - 4:00am, first published November 7 2010 - 10:35am
SUPERB FORM: Tess Madgen was in great form for the Bendigo Spirit in the weekend's winning double. Picture: ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN
SUPERB FORM: Tess Madgen was in great form for the Bendigo Spirit in the weekend's winning double. Picture: ALEX ELLINGHAUSEN

THE Bendigo Bank Spirit has come away from its tough WNBL weekend double-header on the road with two victories.The Spirit yesterday defeated Adelaide 91-79 at Gawler.The 12-point win over the Lightning followed the Spirit’s hard-fought 67-64 victory over the newly named West Coast Waves in Perth on Friday night.The two victories square the fifth-placed Spirit’s ledger at 3-3 after six games.Yesterday was the first time Bendigo had beaten Adelaide away from the Bendigo Stadium.The standout feature of the Spirit’s win over the Lightning was its improved scoring output.Bendigo’s 91 points came after it had scored 67, 55, 77, 74 and a club record-low 43 points in its first five games.The Spirit shot 30-of-71 from the field and 15-of-19 from the free-throw line.Bendigo led at every break: 26-23 at quarter-time, 47-43 at half-time, and 71-60 at three quarter-time, before the final 91-79 score.Scores had been level at 41 apiece with 1:50 left in the second quarter, but after Tess Madgen made a two-point shot, the Spirit didn’t relinquish its lead for the rest of the game, with its advantage getting out to a game-high 14 points during the third and fourth quarters.Madgen led all scorers, finishing with 25 points, which included five three-pointers.Kristi Harrower and Gabrielle Richards each scored 14 points for the Spirit.As well as her 14 points, Richards also had 10 rebounds – five offensive and five defensive.The other double-figure scorer for the Spirit was Kelly Wilson (12).On Friday night, the Spirit set up its win over the Waves with a strong third quarter.The Waves had led 26-25 at half-time, but the Spirit powered away in the third term.The Spirit launched a 20-8 run through the third quarter that turned a 31-35 deficit with 6:55 left in the term into a 51-43 lead at three quarter-time.However, the Waves rallied in the final quarter, and with one minute left on the clock scores were level at 61 apiece.The Spirit had the answers, though, with two free-throws to Richards and a three-pointer to Harrower putting Bendigo ahead by five points.But the Waves refused to lie down, and a three-pointer to Melissa Marsh with 25 seconds left on the clock had them back within two, 66-64.The Waves wouldn’t score again, while a free-throw to Wilson pushed the final margin out to three points.The Spirit’s 67 points came from just five players – Madgen (24), Richards (17), Chelsea Aubry (14 and 15 rebounds), Harrower (11) and Wilson (one).Across the two weekend wins, Bendigo won the rebounding duels against its opposition, 83-58.After the weekend trips to Perth and Adelaide, the Spirit will play in Albury this Saturday night against the top-of-the-ladder Canberra Capitals, who are the defending champions.

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