2020 Bendigo Spirit season

2020–21 Bendigo Spirit season
Head Coach	Tracy York
Captain	Tessa Lavey
Venue	Bendigo Stadium
Results
Record	0–13
Ladder	8th
Finals	Did not qualify
Leaders
Points	Lavey (15.2)
Rebounds	Ernst (7.5)
Assists	Lavey (5.9)

The 2020 Bendigo Spirit season is the 14th season for the franchise in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL).

Ahead of the 2020 season, the Spirit announced that local property development company, Villawood Properties, would serve as naming rights partners after signing a two-year deal in September 2020.[1] Their leadership team for the season was announced with Tessa Lavey as captain, alongside Carley Ernst and Amelia Todhunter as co-vice captains.[2]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a North Queensland hub is set to host the season.[3] The season was originally 2020–21 and would be traditionally played over several months across the summer, however this seasons scheduling has been condensed. The six-week season will see Townsville, Cairns and Mackay host a 56-game regular season fixture, plus a four-game final series (2 x semi-finals, preliminary final and grand final). Each team will contest 14 games starting on 12 November, with the grand final scheduled for 20 December.[4]

Roster

2020 Bendigo Spirit roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. F 2 Goulding, Mary 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) G 4 Todhunter, Amelia 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) G 5 Britten, Shelby 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) G 6 McLean, Cassidy 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) F 9 Froling, Alicia 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) G/F 15 Paalvast, Chevannah 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) F/C 16 Dunlop, Piper 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) F 18 Ernst, Carley 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) G 21 Price, Paige 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) F 23 Skinner, Demi 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) G 24 Lavey, Tessa (C) 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) F/C 31 Rintala, Jennie 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	Head coach Tracy York Assistant coach(es) Mark Alabakov Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 13 November 2020

Standings

#	WNBL Championship ladder
	Team	W	L	PCT	GP
1	Southside Flyers	11	2	84.6	13
2	Townsville Fire	9	4	69.2	13
3	Canberra Capitals	9	4	69.2	13
4	Melbourne Boomers	9	4	69.2	13
5	Sydney Uni Flames	5	8	38.5	13
6	Adelaide Lightning	5	8	38.5	13
7	Perth Lynx	4	9	30.8	13
8	Bendigo Spirit	0	13	0.0	13

Results

Regular season

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location	Record
1	November 12	Southside	60–102	Ernst (16)	Froling (11)	Lavey (3)	Townsville Stadium	0–1
2	November 14	Sydney	63–100	Lavey (15)	Goulding, Lavey (6)	Lavey (10)	Townsville Stadium	0–2
3	November 16	Canberra	56–76	Ernst (15)	Ernst (10)	Lavey, Todhunter (3)	Mackay Multisports Stadium	0–3
4	November 18	Perth	65–78	Ernst (28)	Ernst (10)	Lavey (9)	Mackay Multisports Stadium	0–4
5	November 21	Townsville	81–91	Goulding, Lavey (19)	Ernst (8)	Lavey (11)	Townsville Stadium	0–5
6	November 24	Townsville	51–99	Goulding, Rintala (10)	Ernst (6)	Todhunter (4)	Townsville Stadium	0–6
7	November 25	Adelaide	83–89	Lavey (33)	Ernst (10)	Lavey (6)	Townsville Stadium	0–7
8	November 28	Canberra	51–87	Lavey (17)	Price (5)	Lavey (4)	Townsville Stadium	0–8
9	December 1	Perth	79–95	Lavey (23)	Ernst (8)	Ernst, Lavey (5)	Townsville Stadium	0–9
10	December 5	Melbourne	52–84	Ernst (8)	Ernst (7)	Froling, McLean, Paalvast, Rintala (2)	Cairns Pop-Up Arena	0–10
11	December 6	Sydney	54–62	Lavey (17)	Ernst (7)	Lavey (6)	Cairns Pop-Up Arena	0–11
12	December 9	Adelaide	59–69	Ernst (32)	Ernst (15)	Lavey (6)	Cairns Pop-Up Arena	0–12
13	December 11	Melbourne	70–91	Lavey (16)	Lavey (9)	Lavey (10)	Cairns Pop-Up Arena	0–13

References

1. "BENDIGO SPIRIT SHOOTS HOOPS WITH VILLAWOOD". Retrieved 8 November 2020.
2. "Bendigo Spirit (@bendigo_spirit)". Archived from the original on 26 December 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
3. Elkerton, Matthew; Charles, Caitlan (22 September 2020). "Townsville launches bid to host bubble for upcoming WNBL season". TownsvilleBulletin.com.au. Retrieved 22 September 2020. A council report has detailed a proposal to host, and be central to, the 2020/21 WNBL season within a coronavirus 'bubble'. It's understood the WNBL has plans to host the games wholly within North Queensland, taking advantage of state government grants funding.
4. "QUEENSLAND SET TO HOST 2020 CHEMIST WAREHOUSE WNBL SEASON". wnbl.basketball. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.

External links

• Bendigo Spirit Official website