Title favorites clash as Perth Lynx host Bendigo Spirit to tip off WNBL HoopsFest

The Fire were the early season runaways, breaking away from the pack with a 9-1 record. Since then, their 5-3 record and the injury to 2024-25 WNBL Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Cox have marred what was looking like another Grand Final appearance. In that stretch, the Fire have played Perth and Bendigo once each and exited those contests 0-2 record and with a combined margin of 28 points.

For the Lynx, they recently went on a seven game winning streak which was cut short by 2024 Atlanta Dream draftee Nyadiew Puoch.

Perth’s last loss before this? An away game against the Bendigo Spirit. Since then they’ve gone 8-1.

On the Bendigo side of the coin, they recently went on a 10 game winning streak which was ended by a Sydney Flames team who are still looking like their season hasn’t started. Bendigo’s last loss before this? An away game against the Perth Lynx. Since then they’ve gone 10-1.

The parallels between these teams are glaring, but one major difference was yet to be seen before they raised the curtain for HoopsFest, the new big matchup. The last time these teams faced off the Perth Lynx still employed Brianna Turner and didn’t have Han Xu, who has taken the WNBL by storm. Xu leads her team at 17.6 points a night, as well as blocks with 1.9, and is second in rebounds at 7.7. She’s doing this while shooting 51.4% from the field, 36.7% from three and 80.8% from the free throw line.

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As for the Bendigo Spirit, they had Australian Opal stalwart Marianna Tolo who has since been placed on the inactive list due to the exciting news of her pregnancy. Olivia Pollerd, a college star with Santa Clara, has absorbed Tolo’s role and is doing so gracefully even though she lacks the experience that is rife throughout the Bendigo roster.

Emma Clarke has also recently signed with the Spirit and played her first game this WNBL season in this match, tallying seven points, four rebounds and a steal in 12 minutes off the bench. Clarke has carved a nice role as a three-and-D role player in the WNBL at either the three or the four position and spent most of her time at the latter in her Bendigo debut.

The swing in the big dynamic was glaring, with Pollerd fouling Xu just 15 seconds into the game.

Neither coach could agree on the officiating with Bendigo’s Kennedy Kereama sharing in the postgame press conference: “We certainly wanted to try and play physical. That came at a cost. A lot of foul trouble, don’t necessarily know whether all those were. I don’t agree with them but, of course, I’m biased. That certainly made it made it difficult.”

Perth’s Ryan Petrik was a little less diplomatic in his postgame press conference, “we have some questions, clearly. You’re never going to get a player like [Xu] back in the league if teams are able to just put a saddle on her back and just try and drive her into the ground. Like, why would you ever come back? And if you’re an overseas megastar watching how Han’s getting treated, like, why would you ever want to come?”

It didn’t phase Xu as she scored a basket on the inbound after the Pollerd foul. The Spirit followed this by hitting three unanswered three pointers and were firmly in the driver’s seat. Petrik would call the first time out just shy of seven minutes into the game with Bendigo leading the scoreboard 23-14 and the three point count 7-2. What’s more is that Perth were shooting 66.7% from deep and still trailing the Spirit who were at a white hot 70%.

At the conclusion of the first frame, Bendigo were up 30-22 and the teams combined for 12-19 shooting from beyond the arc. At 4pm on a Thursday in front of a packed out stadium, it was just more proof that the WNBL is ready for this stage. Not only were the teams prepared for the bright lights and the bigger arena, somehow people were able to make it to a basketball game at 4pm on a Thursday. No attendance has yet been shared, but RAC Arena has a capacity of 15,500 and the arena was more than 80% full. That estimation is on the modest side.

MVP favorite and Bendigo’s marquee player Isobel Borlase shared her thoughts on the atmosphere with The IX Basketball: “It was a really cool atmosphere to play in front of. [There were] more people than I probably thought there was going to be and I think it’s just nice to see that we can produce a good brand of basketball and people want to come and watch it.”

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Perth were able to chip away and get the scoreboard to 44-40 but Bendigo regained control of the tempo to finish the first half on an 8-0 run and go into the break up 52-40. Both teams went into the locker room with their two-point percentage dragging down their overall field goal percentage due to how well they were shooting from three.

Kereama told The IX Basketball how his team was able to generate runs in the first half: “Getting stops on defense, being able to get out in transition, play out of early pick and roll and attack different coverages and reward ourselves with makes.”

This ability to posture and get the game on their terms was the main reason for Bendigo’s buffer in the first half.

The Lynx were able to wrestle back and get the scores tied in the late stages of the third quarter but ostensibly hadn’t gone on any sort of run throughout the game. For a team that plays such a free flowing form of basketball, this was something new for them. It’s almost a guarantee that, entering a Perth Lynx basketball game, they will go on at least one 9-0 run. They didn’t achieve any sort of run until the dying stages of the game where they ended up winning.

Petrik shared his insights on the difference in the second half to the first half in the postgame press conference: “Really good second half. Concerned where the energy level was in the first and the [defensive] rotations and those kind of things. It wasn’t a butt whooping at halftime, but, like… Oi. Bendigo has been really good but a lot of it’s us and we we’re just not on point. The second half we flew around and played defence properly and suddenly we were really good.”

Ally Wilson echoed Petrik’s sentiments with The IX Basketball: “I think what Ryan already said, our energy and effort levels were nowhere near good enough in that first half. We had, on the board [at half time], that we needed to match their effort level. They’re the probably the hardest working team in the league and they scrapped so we had to match that and we didn’t in the first half and then in the second half for whatever reason we came out with a bit of a chip on our shoulder and matched their energy and effort which turned it into a game.”

Wilson touched on the theme of the first half, Bendigo were calling all of the shots. It’s not often you’ll see a player say that they need to “match” their opponent for anything, but it’s a sign of the respect these two outfits have for one another. Wilson also pioneered the three point charge for Perth, going 6-9 en route to 26 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Borlase led the way for the Spirit once again, dropping 21 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and a steal. She spoke on her experience at HoopsFest as a whole: “Credit to the WNBL, NBL, HoopsFest, Perth, everyone who came out to support us. It was fun to be a part of and hopefully we get to do it again.”

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If HoopsFest can replicate what it has produced so far in year 2 then it would be an ongoing success. Considering where it was last season compared to this, however, it could be safe to assume it will continue to grow.

Although the Perth Lynx were victorious tonight, it came after the Bendigo Spirit were in control for the first 35 minutes of the game. What was affirmed tonight was that these are the two best teams in the league. If that was a Grand Final preview then bring on the postseason.