A GRITTY defensive effort and another monster game from Anneli Maley were among the catalysts for the Bendigo Spirit getting back on the WNBL winner's list with an upset of the Adelaide Lightning on Saturday.
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The Spirit headed to Adelaide on a six-game losing streak to face the second-placed Lightning, but defied their underdog status to prevail 74-62 and win their second game of the season.
"It's the first time for a long time we've had a healthy group and we're really happy with the performance," Spirit coach Tracy York said.
"Having been down at quarter-time (13-20) we were able to get three stops in a row early in the second quarter to get us back level and defensively, I was really proud to hold Adelaide to 62 points and offensively we were able to get better as the game went on."
Coming off a training camp in Sydney during the week where she missed out on the Australian Opals final team of 12 to head to Serbia for the FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament beginning this week, Maley delivered another outstanding performance for the Spirit.
The 23-year-old forward combined 26 points with 21 rebounds, three assists and five steals as her stellar first season with the Spirit continued.
"It was an awesome performance, particularly coming off the Opals camp where she was quite fatigued after doing a lot of sessions during the week," York said.
"The first quarter her shots weren't going down and I said to her at half-time to just let the game come to her and it did.
"And her steals created lay-ups and she just doesn't stop. I'm having so many people tell me just how much they love watching Anneli play and the way she goes about it. I think she's changing the way women play because she's just such a beast."
I'm having so many people tell me just how much they love watching Anneli play and the way she goes about it. I think she's changing the way women play because she's just such a beast
- Tracy York
Saturday was Maley's second game of the season with more than 20 rebounds after she also hauled down 24 boards in the Spirit's January 21 loss to Townsville.
Maley - whose 21 rebounds included seven offensive - wasn't the only strong rebounding presence for the Spirit, with Megan McKay also grabbing 10 boards.
Overall, the Spirit won the rebound count 53-43.
In her second game back from an ankle injury Maddie Garrick poured in 17 points and was on target from long-range, shooting four-of-10 on three-pointers.
"Maddie is such a smooth shooter and player," York said.
"She hit some shots early and was able to keep the scoreboard ticking over."
The Spirit also got 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists from Tessa Lavey.
The Spirit holding Adelaide to just 62 points came on the back of Bendigo conceding an average of 88 points during the six-game losing streak it had been on going into the match.
Defensively the Spirit forced 18 Adelaide turnovers, while Bendigo also had a season-high 12 steals.
"We basically hit every target we set tonight, starting by keeping Adelaide to under 68 points and we outrebounded them as well," York said.
An area of the game, though, that could have been improved for the Spirit was their free-throw shooting.
The Spirit - now 2-7 - got to the line 15 times, but only made six foul shots.
It had been more than two months since the Spirit's previous win earlier this season when they beat Melbourne by five points on December 8.
"It means a lot for the girls to get the result because we've been in a lot of the games we've lost," York said.
"We've shown we can be very competitive and it certainly helps when we can get all our bodies on the court."
The Adelaide side included two former Spirit players in captain Abbey Wehrung and Marena Whittle.
Wehrung had nine points and four assists for the Lightning, while Whittle contributed four points and six rebounds.
Bendigo's win ended a run of four losses in a row against Adelaide, who the Spirit hadn't beaten since November 1, 2019.
The Spirit return home next Saturday to take on the Perth Lynx at the Bendigo Stadium from 5pm.
It will be their second meeting of the season after Perth won 90-82 in Ballarat on January 29.
The Spirit will have a key out for the clash with gun point guard Lavey to miss due to her AFLW commitments with Richmond.
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