AFTER a thrilling race for a top four spot, the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) finals are set to kick off this weekend, with the four best teams left standing in the hunt for the 2024/25 championship.

It all kicks off on Saturday night, when the first semi-final series begins and the best of three contests take place every couple of days.

The remaining sides are certainly the most deserving of a finals spot, and although the ladder-leaders will head in as favourites, every team can make a case for claiming the ultimate prize in the coming month.

The first matchup will pit the Bendigo Spirit against the Sydney Flames in a first-against-fourth clash. The Spirit are in the box seat to win it all after producing a dominant campaign where they won 18 of their 21 games, but the Flames have been dangerous in their own right at times throughout the fixture, and locked in fourth spot with a round to spare.

There will be no shortage of stars in the clash, led by 2024/25 Most Valuable Player Sami Whitcomb. The 36-year-old has been putting up career numbers and was the dominant winner of the competition’s highest individual honour. She will play a key role in Bendigo’s hunt for the title, and looms as one of the biggest factors in the postseason overall with her ability to break games open as a scorer.

Whitcomb will have help from her teammates, with Kelsey Griffin and Abigail Wehrung in particular crucial to Bendigo’s success. Griffin was named to the All-WNBL Second Team after a standout campaign, while Wehrung was the best player in the competition off the bench, averaging nine points a game and changing the Spirit’s dynamic when injected into the game.

For the Flames, young gun Shaneice Swain has been a revelation for her team throughout the 2024/25 season and was a key reason Sydney was able to make the finals in the first place. She has emerged as a future star of the competition, and can break games open, as showcased by her ceiling with numerous big scores this season. If she can find her rhythm throughout the series, it will make for a compelling battle between the two sides.

The last encounter between these two sides saw the Spirit claim a 33-point win over the Flames to put an end to Sydney’s winning streak. Bendigo was far too good for the opposition, and will carry plenty of confidence into the series based on how the teams match up.

Although the Flames are the heavy underdogs, they made the postseason for a reason, and their midseason form certainly stacked up against the very best. However, they will need to bring their A-game if they are to cause a massive boilover and reach the decider.