IN FITTING fashion, the two best sides throughout the course of the 2024/25 Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) season are left standing heading into the Grand Final Series, which is set to begin tomorrow night.

After both sides put in commanding performances throughout their respective semi-final matchups, the Bendigo Spirit and the Townsville Fire will go head to head for the championship in the deciding series, and it is a tough series to predict based on how strong both teams performed in the postseason.

Although the Spirit came into the finals as the heavyweight favourites, Townsville’s lift in the semi-finals has elevated it alongside Bendigo, and both sides have a strong case to make for the title, setting up an enthralling deciding series.

The Spirit came into the postseason expected to get the job done against the Sydney Flames, and did exactly that. Although the Flames put in a valiant display in game one, they still lost by seven points before Bendigo put the foot down in game two to claim a dominant win and advance to the decider comfortably.

The second semi-final series between the Fire and the Perth Lynx was shaping as an all-time classic, with the standings decided in the final clash of the fixture between these two, as they loomed as the biggest threats to the Spirit in the race for the championship.

The Fire delivered the most important win of their season to date in game one, getting the job done in enemy territory to hand the Lynx a five-point loss at Bendat Basketball Centre and head back to Queensland with the chance to advance.

Game two saw a dominant display from Townsville, completely outperforming the Lynx and changing the narrative around its championship aspirations. Suddenly, the Fire were seen as a genuine threat to Bendigo’s title quest, and the Grand Final Series can go either way.

The Spirit certainly have the star power to get the job done, headlined by none other than 2024/25 WNBL MVP Sami Whitcomb. The veteran star was excellent in the semi-final series, capped off by a game two performance that saw her post a statline of 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in a showing that was reflective of her strong campaign.

However, she is likely to face some stiff defence from the Fire, with head coach Shannon Seebohm again proving why he is considered the best in the competition. While the Fire do not have a player as dominant as Whitcomb, Seebohm continues to get the most out of his roster and game two against the Lynx was a perfect example of that. Townsville had six players pour in 12 or more points for the match, making it a tough defensive matchup given the balance of scorers.

The Spirit will go into the series as slight favourites, and deservingly so after winning 18 of their 21 games throughout the regular season, but the Fire have done enough in the postseason to suggest they will make things interesting at the very least.