ROUND 12 of the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) kicked off with a double-header on Wednesday night, and the first of two matches saw Bendigo Spirit claim a massive 28-point win over Adelaide Lightning.

The game took place at Red Energy Arena on Wednesday evening, marking the first game of a big weekend in the competition. Prior to this game, the Spirit were coming off a tough loss to the reigning champions and title favourites. In that game, Bendigo pushed the Townsville Fire in the first half, but could not finish the job. However, it was a performance that was chock full of promise for the Spirit.

They carried that momentum into Wednesday’s clash against the Lightning, producing one of their best showings of the season to sweep the season series 3-0 against Adelaide.

Bendigo Spirit (96) def. Adelaide Lightning (68)

It was as good a start as Bendigo has produced all season long, storming out of the gates and looking far stronger than the opposition. The Spirit were firing on all cylinders and had plenty of players putting their hand up to provide a scoring option. In their highest-scoring first quarter of the season, the home side led 33-15 at the first change.

Quarter number two was more of the same one-sided action at Red Energy Arena, as Bendigo kept things going full steam ahead after quarter time. The Spirit led by as much as 23 points, and were in full control before the Lightning flicked a switch and dragged themselves back into the contest. A scoring blitz saw the deficit slashed down to just nine points at the main break, and given the pace at which Adelaide was scoring, it was anyone’s game heading into the second half.

It was an emphatic return from the Spirit coming out of half time, with the hosts turning to their bench players for a spark, and the reserves delivered in a big way. The ball zipped around with pace throughout the third quarter, and when Alicia Froling beat the buzzer with a lay-up at three-quarter time, the margin stood at 21 points.

The Spirit cruised home in the final term, giving some of the lesser experienced players some court time in the final minutes of the match. The result marks win number five for the Spirit, with the team ensuring it remains a mathematical possibility for a finals spot.

Off the bench, Abbey Wehrung had 15 of her 18 points in the first half in an exceptionally efficient scoring display, helping account for a whopping 52 points from Bendigo’s bench. For the Lightning, Isobel Borlase received some tough defensive attention, but fought her way to an impressive 16 points on 7/15 shooting from the field.

In the second match of the night, the Fire locked in a finals spot after defeating the Melbourne Boomers in a gritty affair.