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The Bendigo Spirit are one win away from the WNBL championship after they beat the Townsville Fire 70-60 in Game 1 of the Grand Final, pleasing their more than 2,000 home games.
The player of the game was Veronica Burton, with the new Golden State Valkyrie handling playmaking duties, playing hard defense and, most importantly, making shots which first kept the Spirit in the game, and then allowed them to win, finishing up with game-high 24 points.
The best team of the regular season started the game pretty slow and lost the first quarter 23-16. The Spirit didn’t shoot the ball particularly well in the initial stages of the contest, although it must be said that both teams only converted a bit over one-third of their field goal attempts, which didn’t make for a good watch for fans of offensive basketball. The Spirit played only seven players and the Fire played eight, which shows how tough and hard-fought the competition was.
The Fire entered the second half still holding a lead, thanks primarily to Abbey Ellis, as the former Purdue standout would finish the game with 17 points on 46 percent shooting. As expected, Lauren Cox was great on the defensive end with seven boards and four blocks.
In the second 20 minutes, though, the Fire’s defense was not enough to stop the Spirit’s comeback. The regular-season MVP, Sami Whitcomb had 12 points and eight boards, Marianna Tolo added 15 points and nine boards for the victors. The player of the game though was Burton, who carried the Spirit to the win.
Game 2 is in Townsville on Sunday, Mar. 9. (For Americans, tip off is on Saturday, Mar. 8 at 11 p.m. ET.)
