{"id":94547,"date":"2024-02-09T09:59:29","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T22:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/mcivortimes\/?p=94547"},"modified":"2024-02-09T09:59:29","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T22:59:29","slug":"spirit-responds-to-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/mcivortimes\/sport\/spirit-responds-to-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Spirit responds to pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>THE last few lines of the hit song <em>Under Pressure<\/em> by Queen and David Bowie ring true as Bendigo Spirit has three crucial games to round out the Cygnett Women\u2019s National Basketball League\u2019s regular season.<\/p>\n<p>On a three-game winning streak, Spirit\u2019s team will be striving to ensure round 14 is not its last dance in the 2023\/24 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>After a break as the Opals play Olympic qualifying matches in Brazil, Spirit\u2019s next run tips off with Thursday night\u2019s away game against the UC Capitals in Canberra.<\/p>\n<p>The Kennedy Kereama-coached Spirit then heads far north for Sunday\u2019s match against reigning champions Townsville Fire.<\/p>\n<p>Win both and Spirit is a strong chance to climb into the top four, provided it beats Perth Lynx in the home game on 24 February at Red Energy Arena.<\/p>\n<p>A must-win scenario is what Spirit faced against Melbourne Boomers at Red Energy Arena on 30 January.<\/p>\n<p>In a game marked by many momentum swings, Bendigo overcame a late Boomers surge to clinch an 80-70 victory and a two-one result in this season\u2019s series between the teams.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really proud of the group tonight in what was a game that required a lot of poise and discipline,\u201d Kereama said post-match.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a must-win game and that creates a whole different type of pressure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought the first three quarters to keep that calibre of team to 56 points was credit to our team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A highlight for Spirit was the play of four-time WNBL champion Kelsey Griffin as she racked up 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and five steals.<\/p>\n<p>Griffin said Spirit\u2019s defensive intensity was a key in the team\u2019s winning streak.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn our highlight culture we get obsessed with the offensive end of the floor, but from my experience it\u2019s the teams that lock themselves in on the defensive end of the court that put themselves in with the best of chance of being successful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Among those doing plenty of work is Abbey Wehrung.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe is the best defensive guard in the league,\u201d Griffin said.<\/p>\n<p>Add in Kelly Wilson\u2019s near 450-games experience and Spirit has a great guard rotation that includes Mehryn Kraker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really exciting to see all the hard work start to pay off because that doesn\u2019t always happen in sport,\u201d Griffin said.<\/p>\n<p>A 9-9 record has Spirit in fifth place and putting the heat on Sydney Flames and Boomers who are both on 11-8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE last few lines of the hit song Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie ring true as Bendigo Spirit has three crucial games to round out the Cygnett Women\u2019s National Basketball League\u2019s regular season. On a three-game winning streak, Spirit\u2019s team will be striving to ensure round 14 is not its last dance in [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/mcivortimes\/sport\/spirit-responds-to-pressure\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":200,"featured_media":94548,"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-94547","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 responds to pressure - McIvor Times<\/title>\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\/mcivortimes\/sport\/spirit-responds-to-pressure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spirit responds to pressure - McIvor Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE last few lines of the hit song Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie ring true as Bendigo Spirit has three crucial games to round out the Cygnett Women\u2019s National Basketball League\u2019s regular season. 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