THE WNBL Grand Final Series began on Wednesday night, with the Bendigo Spirit storming home in the final term to defeat the Townsville Fire by 10 points and take a 1-0 lead.

Coming into the clash, there was plenty of intrigue given the recent form of both sides has been terrific. The Spirit were the team to beat coming into the postseason, and have been playing in such a manner, but the Fire have been in just as good nick of late. They convincingly defeated the Perth Lynx in two games in the semi-final series, and came into the Grand Final with plenty of wind in their sails, although Bendigo would prove a formidable challenge.

Despite a red-hot start from the Fire, the Spirit owned the final quarter to break the deadlock and take game one of the series.

Bendigo Spirit (70) def. Townsville Fire (60)

Continuing their momentum from last series, the Fire got off to a terrific start in enemy territory, silencing the crowd at Red Energy Arena with a 23-16 opening term. Townsville’s high-intensity style of play was yielding plenty of results, with Bendigo stunned by the opposition’s production.

However, as the match wore on, the Spirit’s veteran presence proved calming and helped slow down the Fire’s blistering start to the match. At halftime, the hosts managed to cut the deficit to five points, and although their own offence was far from humming, they stayed in the match with defensive pressure.

That level of output on the defensive end continued after the main break, with the Fire restricted to just eight points in the third quarter as Bendigo capped off the comeback and tied up proceedings with 10 minutes to play. The Spirit had taken control of the match through their seasoned stars and looked like running away with it.

With the match tied at the start of the fourth, a hot start was crucial, and that is exactly what the Spirit produced. They jumped out to a quick buffer in what proved to be a one-sided fourth quarter. The visitors were outscored 19-29 in the fourth quarter as Bendigo’s star power proved too much for the Fire, who will now head back to Townsville looking to tie up the series.

For the Spirit, Veronica Burton was the star of the show with a stat-stuffing performance of 24 points, five rebounds and six assists, using her experience to outwork and outperform the Fire as the game rolled on. Although it was one of Sami Whitcomb‘s quieter performances of the year, she still played her part with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Marianna Tolo almost pulled off the double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds.

For the Fire, Abbey Ellis continued her breakout campaign, posting 17 points and six rebounds and helping inject some desperately needed life into Townsville’s offence as the game rolled on.