{"id":100222,"date":"2024-11-04T09:18:18","date_gmt":"2024-11-03T22:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?p=100222"},"modified":"2024-11-04T09:18:18","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T22:18:18","slug":"spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/","title":{"rendered":"Spirit breaks free of Lightning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AN 18-1 blitz in the final quarter sealed a 14-point victory as Bendigo Spirit tipped off the Cygnett Women\u2019s National Basketball League season on Saturday night.<\/p>\n<p>Playing on the showcourt at Red Energy Arena, Spirit surged away in the last seven minutes of the match to mark an 84-70 victory against Adelaide Lightning.<\/p>\n<p>Pressure was high on the Kennedy Kereama-coached Spirit after Adelaide led 69-66 by the three-minute mark of the final quarter.<\/p>\n<p>From there the experience of Opals and now Spirit team-mates Sami Whitcomb and Marianna Tolo, along with WNBL games record-holder Kelly Wilson and Casey Samuels was to the fore.<\/p>\n<p>Consecutive three-pointers by Abbey Wehrung provided a much-needed spark for Spirit which now has Powercor as a major backer.<\/p>\n<p>As Spirit poured in the points through Wehrung (6), Whitcomb (5), Samuels (5) and Tolo (2) the Lightning was held to just a point.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo keep Adelaide to seven points in the final quarter was exceptional,\u201d Kereama said.<\/p>\n<p>A line-up which has plenty of scoring punch also showed its defensive prowess, especially in the opening five minutes and the last five minutes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can measure defence in so many ways. A goal is to get three defensive stops in a row. The team locked in to doing that incredibly well in the last quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It did not take long for Whitcomb to have an impact as she brought up Spirit\u2019s and the first points of the contest with a three-point shot in the 24<sup>th<\/sup> second.<\/p>\n<p>Bendigo charged to a 16-7 lead, but the Nat Hurst-coached Adelaide hit back strongly through the play of Japreece Dean, Isobel Borlase, Brooke Basham and Breanna Turner.<\/p>\n<p>A two-point jumper by Asha Nightingale with her first shot in her WNBL debut brought the Spirit bench to its feet and loud cheers from the crowd.<\/p>\n<p>Unity of the team was shown by celebrating a team-mate\u2019s memorable feat.<\/p>\n<p>By quarter-time Spirit led 28-23.<\/p>\n<p>Adelaide capitalised on consecutive turnovers in Bendigo\u2019s attack to take a five-point lead nearing the 4 \u00bd minute mark of the second quarter.<\/p>\n<p>A Samuels three-pointer and then another two from a Tolo assist put Spirit back in front.<\/p>\n<p>It was basket-for-basket before a Whitcomb two and then another three gave Bendigo a 48-45 lead at the main break.<\/p>\n<p>A closely-fought third quarter ended with Bendigo in front, 65-63.<\/p>\n<p>After Turner and Dean put Lightning up 69-66 it was time for Spirit to respond and it did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AN 18-1 blitz in the final quarter sealed a 14-point victory as Bendigo Spirit tipped off the Cygnett Women\u2019s National Basketball League season on Saturday night. Playing on the showcourt at Red Energy Arena, Spirit surged away in the last seven minutes of the match to mark an 84-70 victory against Adelaide Lightning. Pressure was [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"featured_media":100224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-100222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Spirit breaks free of Lightning - Bendigo Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bendigo Spirit&#039;s 18-1 final-quarter blitz secured an 84-70 victory over Adelaide Lightning in their WNBL season opener.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spirit breaks free of Lightning - Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bendigo Spirit&#039;s 18-1 final-quarter blitz secured an 84-70 victory over Adelaide Lightning in their WNBL season opener.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-03T22:18:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2024\/11\/Untitled-design-2024-11-04T091604.991-1.jpg?_t=1730672298\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nathan Dole\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nathan Dole\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/sport\\\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/sport\\\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nathan Dole\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2d31d53edbbceb0ba1c67d957762f37c\"},\"headline\":\"Spirit breaks free of Lightning\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-03T22:18:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/sport\\\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":407,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/sport\\\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/Untitled-design-2024-11-04T091604.991-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/sport\\\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/sport\\\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\\\/\",\"name\":\"Spirit breaks free of Lightning - Bendigo Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/sport\\\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/sport\\\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/Untitled-design-2024-11-04T091604.991-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-03T22:18:18+00:00\",\"description\":\"Bendigo Spirit's 18-1 final-quarter blitz secured an 84-70 victory over Adelaide Lightning in their WNBL season opener.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/sport\\\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/sport\\\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/sport\\\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/Untitled-design-2024-11-04T091604.991-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/Untitled-design-2024-11-04T091604.991-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Photo: Bendigo Spirit Facebook\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/sport\\\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Spirit breaks free of Lightning\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bendigo Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Bendigo Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":491,\"caption\":\"Bendigo Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2d31d53edbbceb0ba1c67d957762f37c\",\"name\":\"Nathan Dole\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/author\\\/nathandole\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Spirit breaks free of Lightning - Bendigo Times","description":"Bendigo Spirit's 18-1 final-quarter blitz secured an 84-70 victory over Adelaide Lightning in their WNBL season opener.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Spirit breaks free of Lightning - Bendigo Times","og_description":"Bendigo Spirit's 18-1 final-quarter blitz secured an 84-70 victory over Adelaide Lightning in their WNBL season opener.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/","og_site_name":"Bendigo Times","article_published_time":"2024-11-03T22:18:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2024\/11\/Untitled-design-2024-11-04T091604.991-1.jpg?_t=1730672298","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Nathan Dole","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Nathan Dole","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/"},"author":{"name":"Nathan Dole","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/person\/2d31d53edbbceb0ba1c67d957762f37c"},"headline":"Spirit breaks free of Lightning","datePublished":"2024-11-03T22:18:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/"},"wordCount":407,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2024\/11\/Untitled-design-2024-11-04T091604.991-1.jpg","articleSection":["Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/","name":"Spirit breaks free of Lightning - Bendigo Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2024\/11\/Untitled-design-2024-11-04T091604.991-1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-11-03T22:18:18+00:00","description":"Bendigo Spirit's 18-1 final-quarter blitz secured an 84-70 victory over Adelaide Lightning in their WNBL season opener.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2024\/11\/Untitled-design-2024-11-04T091604.991-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2024\/11\/Untitled-design-2024-11-04T091604.991-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Photo: Bendigo Spirit Facebook"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/sport\/spirit-breaks-free-of-lightning\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Spirit breaks free of Lightning"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/","name":"Bendigo Times","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization","name":"Bendigo Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2021\/02\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2021\/02\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":491,"caption":"Bendigo Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/person\/2d31d53edbbceb0ba1c67d957762f37c","name":"Nathan Dole","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/author\/nathandole\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100222"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=100222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}