Bendigo sweep Fire to win third WNBL title

Bendigo Spirit have claimed their third WNBL championship after defeating Townsville Fire 63-55 in game two of the grand final series.

The best team all season, the Spirit seized control after half-time to complete a series sweep at a sold-out Townsville Entertainment Centre on Sunday.

League MVP Sami Whitcomb added a Rachael Sporn grand final MVP award to her growing trophy cabinet after scoring 26 points, while Mariana Tolo combined 17 points with nine rebounds.

“Honestly, there is no other team I would rather have won with,” Whitcomb said.

“It felt inevitable with this group; it felt like we were building something from the beginning.

“This was hard and so, so tough, but we earned it and I’m so proud.”

Veterans Tolo, Kelsey Griffin and Kelly Wilson celebrated their fifth championship.

It was Bendigo’s first title since winning back-to-back pennants in 2013-14, against Townsville.

“I’m so happy for the playing group right now,” Spirit coach Kennedy Kereama said.

“It’s just a fantastic achievement by our team and I’m incredibly proud of everybody.”

Lauren Cox posted 17 points for the Fire, while captain Courtney Woods’ 10 points were offset by 10 turnovers.

It was physical and defence-dominated early, with more than three minutes passing before the contest’s first field goal as both sides missed their opening five shots.

Bendigo settled first and moved ahead 11-5 before Townsville recovered to lead 21-20 at quarter-time, with Cox scoring 13 points.

With the Spirit’s bigs finding foul trouble, the Fire went on an 11-0 run either side of the first break to motor ahead 29-20.

Townsville dominated the offensive rebounds 11-2 in the first half but their poor perimeter shooting kept Bendigo in the hunt.

Whitcomb and Tolo combined to close Townsville’s buffer to 34-33 at half-time before the Spirit, as in Game One, got on top courtesy of a third-quarter defensive masterclass.

The Fire had more turnovers (10) than points (seven) for the term and Bendigo, piloted by Whitcomb, took advantage to move ahead 46-41 at three-quarter-time.

Townsville went more than seven minutes without a field goal as the Spirit’s lead swelled to double digits on an Abbey Wehrung trey.

The Fire diligently chipped away at the deficit and closed the margin to two points when rookie Abbey Ellis drained a three, but the home side would be left to rue more turnovers and missed free throws down the stretch.