THE PERTH Lynx fell on Wednesday night to the league’s best in the Bendigo Spirit in a second half fall away that saw them outscored by 14 points in the final quarter.

Perth got the break early, leading by seven points after the opening term. Amy Atwell made a fast start, scoring seven points in the first seven minutes. A 10-0 run in the middle of the quarter gave the Lynx the runaway they needed to push the Spirit up against the ropes. 

MVP frontrunner Sami Whitcomb started the second quarter off with a shot from beyond the arc to bring the deficit back to four points, and the teams went back-and-forth for much of the period. Perth broke the deadlock with another mid-quarter run, this time 10-3 to open up a double-digit advantage with under two minutes remaining. Whitcomb posted nine points in the term, while Laeticia Amihere opened the quarter with three straight buckets to kick start the visitors. 

Perth’s eight-point halftime lead quickly shrunk as the second half began, with Bendigo clearly coming out of the main break with intent. Whitcomb once again started things off with a three-point knockdown, as the Spirit went on a 10-3 run of their own. Alex Wilson put up eight points in the third but it was another close fight that ended with Perth clinging to a five-point lead going into the final break. 

Bendigo managed a 21-7 through the first seven minutes of final quarter play to lead by nine points on the back of Whitcomb. She began the term with back-to-back-to-back three-point hits, before Marianna Tolo finished the quarter with 10 points in the last six and a half minutes. Perth struggled to get anything going in the second half offensively, and when the defence dropped away in the fourth quarter, the Spirit soared away. 

Wilson fought desperately with a career high 29 point outing, to go with seven rebounds, two steals and five triples, while Amihere turned things around in this one with a commendable 21 point performance. Anneli Maley ripped down 14 rebounds, whilst Miela Sowah and Atwell combined for 21 points. Outside of Wilson and Amihere, the Lynx lacked for scoring, and simply could not contain Bendigo’s hot shooting.

The Spirit shot 52 per cent from downtown for the evening, and despite Perth’s advantage of 13 offensive rebounds to six, outrebounded the visiting side overall. Perth led the second chance points, the points from turnovers, the fast break points and almost broke even in bench points and points in the paint, but shot 9/32 from beyond the arc to Bendigo’s 15/29.

Whitcomb had another superb night with a 29 point, 10 rebound double-double to go with her four assists and six threes, while Kelsey Griffin battled all game for her own double-double, posting 12 points and 15 boards. Tolo ended with 15 points and Veronica Burton posted a balanced line of 14 points, nine assists, six rebounds, a steal and a block. Abbey Wehrung and Casey Samuels combined to add 24 points.

The win puts Bendigo two games clear of Perth now on top of the ladder, and 2-1 against them for the season. While it still remains likely the two sides will finish first and second on the WNBL table, Bendigo will be confident going into the finals series having defeated its main competition this year on multiple occasions. The home side has now won five straight games, while Perth’s win streak ends at six.

The Spirit next play Geelong United on Sunday afternoon, while the Lynx will look to bounce back as they tackle the Southside Flyers on Saturday night.