Sydney Uni Flames, Canberra douse Townsville Fire as Bendigo Spirit tighten grip on WNBL top spot

SYDNEY Uni and Canberra ensured it was a weekend to forget for Townsville Fire as Bendigo Spirit tightened their grip on top spot in the WNBL. The SWOOP five minute wrap.

Natasha Cloud goes up against Belinda Snell in the Flames win.

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SYDNEY Uni and Canberra ensured it was a weekend to forget for Townsville Fire as Bendigo Spirit tightened their grip on top spot in the WNBL after seven rounds of competitions.

Perth Lynx star Sami Whitcomb impressed with her career-high haul of 39 in a round of strong individual performances.

Adelaide Lightning's Sarah Elsworthy and Bendigo Spirit's Blake Dietrick battle for the ball.

Asia Taylor once again made her presence felt for the Flames as Suzy Batkovic again poured heart and soul into her games.

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FLAMES DOUSE FIRE

Sydney Uni Flames 78 (A. Taylor 25pts, 11rebs, 1blk) beat Townsville Fire 72 (S. Batkovic 28pts, 8rebs, 3stls)

The Flames lead by as much as 13 in this match with a third quarter slump allowing Fires hopes of victory to reignite as the reduced the margin back to two.

Natasha Cloud was a standout for Fire against the Flames.

But in the end the Flames held on for their second win in three match-ups with the Townsville side.

Asia Taylor (25 points, 11 rebounds, four assists) was bets for the Flames and Batkovic (28 points, eight boards, five assists, three steals) made a big impression for Fire.

SPIRIT END LYNX RUN AT HOME

Bendigo Spirit 70 (K. Griffin 31pts, 8rebs) beat Perth Lynx 70 (S. Whitcomb 39pts, 6rebs, 3stls).

Spirit showed why they deserve top spot on the league ladder by ending Perth’s winning run at home.

While Sami Whitcomb starred for Lynx with 39 points — which included 29 points in just 12 minutes — Spirit took the win.

Kelsey Griffin played a big role for Bendigo with 31 points as every player on the team made the scoreboard.

Colleen Planeta on the move for Adelaide Lightning.

SPIRIT CELEBRATE SUCCESSFUL ROAD TRIP

Bendigo Spirit 74 (N. Payne 13pts, 8rebs) beat Adelaide Lightning 51 (J. Good 13pts, 4rebs).

Spirit made it two wins on their road trip with their defeat of an Adelaide side struggling to make a mark.

Kelsey Griffin was again noticeable with 10 points and eight boards in just 23 minutes.

CAPITALS ON THE DEFENCE AGAINST FIRE

Canberra Capitals 81 (M. Ruef 14pts, 17rebs, 3stls) beat Townsville Fire 77 (S. Batkovic 27pts, 11rebs).

Brilliant defence saw the Capitals ended Townsville's’s three game winning streak on Saturday.

Marianna Tolo (17 points, five blocks) and Mikaela Ruef (14 points, 17 rebounds) were standouts.

Sara Blicavs charges around Rebecca Cole in the Rangers win.

RANGERS TAKE LEAD IN SERIES WITH BOOMERS

Dandenong Rangers 78 (S. Cumming 22pts, 4rebs) beat Melbourne Boomers 69 (C. Black 12pts, 12rebs)

With the match shown on Facebook, the Rangers were keen to impress and did just that, going 2-0 up in their series with the Boomers.

The Rangers lead by 26 at halftime with Steph Cumming to scoring with 22 points.