ONE OF the biggest upsets of the 2025/26 season took place in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) on Monday night, with the Sydney Flames putting an end to the Bendigo Spirit‘s 10-game winning streak.

The Flames hosted the form team of the competition at Qudos Bank Arena on Monday night, with the Spirit entering the clash fresh off a win over championship fancies Townsville Fire on Wednesday night, and looking close to unstoppable as the fixture kicked off for the 2026 portion.

However, Bendigo was stunned by the Flames in Sydney on Monday night, with the underdogs proving far too good for the Spirit, getting the better of the away side to end their winning streak and claim an impressive 11-point win.

Sydney Flames (89) def. Bendigo Spirit (78)

Although the Spirit were heavily favoured coming into the match, the Flames were locked in from the opening term, moving the ball with pace and precision to create open shots at a consistent rate. At the first change, the home side had chalked out a five-point buffer and put the pressure back on Bendigo for the first time in a while.

The second quarter saw the Flames maintain their ascendancy, finding plenty of success scoring the ball inside the arc and pushing the rock into the paint to put pressure on Bendigo’s interior defence. Sydney was also elite on the glass, getting first hands on the ball on both ends of the floor, and at the main change, the hosts led by a whopping 14 points to stun the Spirit.

Bendigo looked more like the side that won 10 games in a row when it came out of half time, chipping away at the margin and finally putting some pressure back on the Flames following a difficult first half for the visitors. A 9-2 run in favour of the Spirit saw the margin trimmed down to just six points with a quarter to play, setting up a big finish.

However, the Flames’ big names – headlined by import Unique Thompson‘s terrific performance – answered in the opening minutes of the fourth term to steady the home team on their home court. Although the Spirit tried to remain in the game, Sydney was able to hold on for its most impressive victory of the season.

There is no doubt that the Flames would not have been able to pull off the upset if not for the performance of Thompson, who was simply dominant against Bendigo. The import forward stuffed the stat sheet with 32 points and 10 rebounds on 12/19 shooting from the field, and helped set the tone in the first half, where the game was truly won.

She had some help from skipper Lauren Nicholson, who was extremely productive with 19 points in less than 19 minutes, before picking up a Quad injury and being ruled out for the rest of the match, with the Flames sweating on the seriousness of this.

As she has done all season, Isobel Borlase led from the front for the Spirit, putting together another excellent performance to finish with 32 points (10/21 FG, 9/10 FT), six rebounds and one assist to try and keep Bendigo’s winning streak alive.