The top four teams in the Women's National Basketball League are probably very relieved that the Bendigo Spirit won't be part of this season's finals.
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The Spirit continued their stunning form with a 68-65 win over title contender the Melbourne Boomers at Parkville on Sunday.
It was the Spirit's fifth win in their past six matches and the second time this season they've defeated a highly-rated Boomers side that includes two WNBA stars in Lindsay Allen and Tiff Mitchell and three Opals - Ezi Magbegor, Cayla George and Tess Madgen.
After starting the season 1-7, the Spirit now have a 6-8 record with two games against Sydney Uni Flames to complete the season
"It makes you wonder where we could be if we'd played a full season,'' Spirit coach Tracy York said.
"If we had two or three extra games to play, you just don't know where we could have finished up. We're playing really good basketball right now."
The Spirit had to overcome adversity to burst the Boomers' bubble. In-form guard Alex Wilson suffered a knee injury early in the game, while Mary Goulding missed the match because of an adductor injury.
A couple of times in the first half the Boomers threatened to break the game open, but this Spirit group refuses to roll over.
By half-time the Spirit led by two points and then they choked the Boomers' potent offence in the second half, restricting the home side to 30 points - 10 of which came in desperation in the final minute of the match.
Tessa Lavey (16 points, three assists), stepped up to produce arguably her best game of the season, Anneli Maley had 17 points and 15 rebounds, while Maddie Garrick made some key buckets in her 13-point haul.
With Wilson and Goulding out, Cassidy McLean grabbed her opportunity and scored six points, including a big three-point bomb that gave the Spirit a match-winning 11-point lead with 90 seconds to play.
"That's the great thing about this group - they play hard,'' York said.
"Once again their defence was fantastic. To keep a team like the Boomers to 65 points was a great effort. This group has been so resilient, I'm just so proud of them."
The Spirit's next match is their final home game of the season - Saturday, March 12 against Sydney Uni Flames.
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