THE Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) season kicked off on the weekend, with the nation’s finest female basketballers back in action, and some big individual performances came out of Round 1.

One of the most eye-catching showings came from Bendigo Spirit star Kelsey Griffin, who produced a massive double-double in her side’s thumping win over the UC Capitals on Friday night.

The Spirit proved 20 points too good for the Capitals, with a number of strong contributors across the course of the match. None were more impressive than Griffin, who was a towering presence inside the paint and impacted the game in more ways than one. There were no signs of nerves against her old side, who lost her services to Bendigo over the past offseason.

She looks set to be the main point of offence for the Spirit, and against the Capitals, showed she is set to be one of the most dominant bigs in the game for the 2022/23 season.

UC Capitals (85) def. by Bendigo Spirit (105)

Kelsey Griffin – 25 points (9/13 FG), 12 rebounds, three assists, two steals

Griffin kicked off the game in style, winning the jump ball and giving the Spirit the first possession of the game. Her screens were crucial in the first few buckets, and she chimed in with her first assist of the match after finding a cutting Jade Melbourne. Griffin began to get involved in the rebounding battle as the quarter rolled on, getting her hands on a number of wayward shots from the Capitals. She headed to the bench with two minutes remaining in the first term after getting into some foul trouble, but came back in a minute later to nail her first bucket of the match, a three-pointer.

Griffin kept her scoring rolling into the second term, producing the first basket of the quarter with a nice driving lay-up. Looking to use her size in the post, Griffin managed to shoot over the interior defence set by the Capitals, and quickly became one of the match’s most damaging offensive players. After a short stint on the bench, Griffin came back in and continued to crash the boards, and nailed another triple on the eve of half time.

Quarter number three was Griffin’s quietest from an individual perspective, finding herself guarded much tighter than the opening half. Despite the extra attention, Griffin’s positioning and strength allowed her to still impact the contest with her rebounding, as the Spirit headed into the final term with an 18-point lead.

Griffin nailed another shot from behind the arc to open the final period, punishing the Capitals for poor switching on the pick and pop. By this stage, the result was all but sealed for the Spirit, but still found herself open on the perimeter and making the opposition pay with her smooth jump shot action. She closed out the match with a nice scoring burst, delivering six points in the final two minutes as Bendigo headed home with the W.

The Capitals simply could not contain Griffin, and it cost them on the scoreboard in a big way. She looks set for another big campaign, and continues to prove to be a difficult matchup.