Bendigo Spirit coach Tracy York had plenty of reasons to feel frustrated after Wednesday night's WNBL loss to the University of Canberra Capitals.
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A poor start and a lack of defensive intensity were prevalent in the 100-86 loss, but the form of power forward Anneli Maley gave York a reason to smile.
Maley produced one the of the great individual performances in Spirit history - 38 points, 19 rebounds and four assists.
"She was outstanding,'' York said of Maley.
"I don't think I've coached a player that's produced that many points and that many rebounds in the same game.
"I'm not sure who the last player in our league was to play a game like that. Her effort at both ends of the court was outstanding.
"It wasn't the result we wanted as a team, but for Anneli to produce an individual game like that was crazy."
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Maley arrived at the Spirit with big wraps on her rebounding and defence.
If there was a question mark on her ability to go to another level it was scoring.
"She took good shots and didn't force things,'' York said.
"She's such a worker to get herself good possessions and she deserved them all. She was relentless all night."
It was a performance that should make the Opals' coaching staff stand up and take notice.
Maley, 23, was left out of the recently named Opals extended training squad for next year's World Cup.
York hoped Maley's efforts would rub off on her team-mates for next Wednesday's away clash with the Sydney Uni Flames.
Defensively, the Spirit can't afford a repeat of what they served up against the Capitals, particularly in the first quarter.
"If you'd told me before the game that we'd score 88 points, I thought we'd win,'' York said.
"Our defence was horrendous...I just can't watch it back at the moment, I want to enjoy Christmas first.
"I need to watch it back to see how their players got so open or how they got easy lay-ups."
The Spirit have a 1-3 record, while the Flames are 0-3. Sydney's best player is former Spirit guard Shyla Heal.
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