1 2 3 4 Final
Southside Flyers 25 20 25 21 91
Defeated
Bendigo Spirit 20 26 11 31 88

Round 8 WNBL game at the State Basketball Centre on 22 December 2024

A phenomenal 25-5 run from the Southside Flyers during the last eight minutes and 50 seconds of the 3rd quarter set up a three point home victory for the Flyers in a Round 8 home game against the ladder leading Bendigo Spirit at the State Basketball Centre on Sunday 22 December 2024. During this run Southside turned a 7 point deficit 45-52, into a 13 point lead, 70-57 at three quarter time. Bendigo fought back strongly to score 31 points in the last term and reduced the margin to less than three points twice in the term. Southside sixth woman Tera Reed made a pair of free throws twice in the last 15 seconds to enable the Flyers hold to on for a three point victory in a high standard game.

Southside put on a long range shooting exhibition, making eight of 14 three-pointers at an accuracy of 57%. In a blistering two minute and 10 second burst from four minutes and 30 seconds left in the third quarter Southside made all four 3PA, making a three-pointer on four consecutive possessions. Maddison Rocci made back to back triples from near the top of the arc, following by a corner three from Dallas Loughridge. Southside’s fourth 3PM of the third term was the result of a second chance opportunity. Import Naz Hillmon took an offensive rebound and surrounded by three Bendigo Spirit players was able to pass the ball out of the paint to a teammate. Later in the possession Reed made a corner three to extend Southside’s lead.

Two Bendigo Spirit players combined for 54 points with American import Veronica Burton scoring a game-high and season-high 31 points and Australian centre Marianna Tolo scoring 23 points. With her last field goal of the game, a hook shot with a minute and three seconds left in the fourth quarter Tolo reached 3,000 career points in the WNBL. No other Bendigo player reached double figures in scoring against Southside with the WNBL’s leading scorer in 2024/25 Sami Whitcomb ranking third with nine points ahead of fellow guards Abbey Wehrung and Kelly Wilson with eight points each. Whitcomb made a game-high eight assists and Bendigo captain Kelsey Griffin took a team-high 10 rebounds after starting the game on the bench. Burton shot the ball efficiently to have a field goal accuracy of 61.5%, made three of five three-pointers at 60%, made all 12 free throws and ranked second for Bendigo with seven rebounds. Across Bendigo’s two Round 8 games Burton averaged 22.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game to earn selection in the WNBL’s Team of the Week.

All six Southside players that played at least 20 minutes court time reached double figures in scoring including a trio with at least 18 points each – Flyers captain Bec Cole 22 points, Naz Hillmon 19 points and Maddison Rocci with 18 points. Also in double figures were Dallas Loughridge and Tera Reed (11 points each) along with Alice Kunek (10 points). Cole ranked second for the Flyers with eight rebounds, made a team-high four assists, an equal game-high three steals and performed well defensively to contribute to Whitcomb being held to single figures in scoring. Hillmon made eight of ten field goal attempts at an accuracy of 80%, made both 3PA and took an equal game-high 10 rebounds. Naz’s five offensive rebounds accounted for a third of the 15 O-boards taken by the two teams between them. Hillmon averaged 18.5 points and 13.0 rebounds per games during Southside’s Round 8 double to earn selection in the league’s Team of the Week.