Basketball On The Internet.

NEEDING "statement" wins to start shoring up their WNBL Final Four aspirations, Southside smashed emerging Bendigo, then staved off Melbourne as Sydney swamped Adelaide and Canberra, throwing the pressure back onto Perth to avoid being the odd one out behind Townsville and Melbourne, who started at #1 and 2.  

And Perth's fortunes took a huge home hit when Bendigo kept alive its dreams of a trip to the post-season by winning out west.  

The Spirit revival in Round 12 was monumental. It started with a demoralising and potentially debilitating defeat in MELBOURNE at Southside's hands, the Flyers flying off with a 30-11 first quarter that left no doubt where this was headed. 

Carley Ernst stepped up when Lauren Jackson (knee) was sidelined, Bendigo forced into 18 turnovers and held to 35 per cent field goal shooting.

To recover from that potential devastation, fly to PERTH and whack the Lynx on their home court - for the first time in seven years - was a credit to coach Kennedy Kereama and how his team rallied in its self-belief.

Mehryn Kraker defied the scout and shone for Bendigo. She compiled 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting with - wait for it - 8-of-10 threes! And her five rebounds, five assists and a steal also greatly helped the cause.

Ahead 65-62 with a quarter left, Ruth Davis, Kelsey Griffin, then Kraker with back-to-back threes blew it out to 75-62, and when Kelly Wilson and Casey Samuels added triples, the Spirit was over the line, Ally Wilson's career-high 13 assists with 15 points also significant.

In SYDNEY, Adelaide started positively enough but Brianna Turner going 1-of-5 in the first period and all four misses in-and-around the hoop, meant instead of keeping pace with the Flames, Lightning watched them burn 27-11 clear by the first break.

Adelaide's turnover count also was suicidal. Sydney was paced by Didi Richards and Lauren Nicholson both with 18 points, Richards also with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals, Nicholson with five boards, six assists and two steals.

Lightning enjoyed a stronger second quarter but with the Flames shutting down Izzy Borlase and their starters all scoring in double digits, it was a comfortable home win.

Back in SYDNEY, the Flames had a longer tryst with plucky Canberra before ultimately securing another blow-out win, all five starters again with double figure points, Cayla George leading the way with an 18-point, 10-rebound double.

George shot it at 72 per cent, and also had two assists, four steals and three blocks, Sydney's defence at its most miserly. containing Canberra to 35 per cent shooting while firing away at 59 per cent.

The round's big upset was in TOWNSVILLE where Lightning, on the back of a disappointing showing in Sydney, turned back a 17-26 first quarter deficit to be ahead by halftime.

Izzy Bourne was exceptional, her 24 points at 56 per cent, with four 3-pointers but captain Lauren Mansfield off the bench absolutely led from the front.

Mansfield's 20 points came on 8-of-13 shooting and she nailed all three of her 3-point attempts to drive her team to an unforeseen result.

Brianna Turner grabbed 16 rebounds as Townsville came to grips with the realisation Adelaide was not going away, Courtney Woods playing the full 40 minutes for her 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five steals. But Lightning was not going to crack.

Southside repeatedly threatened to blow Melbourne out of the water in MELBOURNE, leading by as many as 15 points and Leilani Mitchell turning back the clock to ice 19 points, grab seven rebounds, plus four assists and a steal.

In her 200th WNBL appearance, Lauren Jackson was unstoppable early but with Monique Conti shutting down Maddison Rocci (0-of-7) and the Jordin Canada-to-Naz Hillmon combination working, the Boomers were back in it by halftime.

Mitchell dragged Southside clear and it led 65-54 in the final quarter. Threes by Sara Blicavs and Tera Reed quickly swung momentum, Canada's triple cutting it to 71-72.

Aimie Rocci's three put the Boomers up 74-72, Mitchell's three restoring the Flyers' lead as this went down to the wire.

Trailing 82-84, Blicavs' 3-pointer for the win missed, Hillmon swept the ball back to her but her second attempt also drew iron, Southside escaping with the W. 

SOUTHSIDE FLYERS 84 (Cole 17, Ernst 15, Rocci 12, Mitchell 11; Russell 7 rebs; Cole 7 assts) d BENDIGO SPIRIT 57 (Froling 15, Samuels 10, Wehrung 7; McGoldrick 6 rebs; A.Wilson 4 assts) at Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre. Crowd: 975

SYDNEY FLAMES 88 (Richards, Nicholson 18, Madgen 17, Bradley 13, George 11; George 11 rebs; George, Nicholson 6 assts) d ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 65 (Willoughby 16, Brazel, Turner 11, Borlase 10; Turner 13 rebs; Willoughby, Borlase 4 assts) at Quaycentre. Crowd: 982

SYDNEY FLAMES 90 (George 18, Richards 16, Nicholson 15, Madgen, Bradley 14; George 10 rebs; Bradley 6 assts) d UNI of CANBERRA CAPITALS 65 (Clark, Sharp 13, Fowler 9; ) at Quaycentre. Crowd: 1,077

ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 90 (Bourne 24, Mansfield 20, Borlase 16, Willoughby 15; Turner 16 rebs; Willoughby 6 assts) d TOWNSVILLE FIRE 75 (Woods 20, Ruef 15, Whitcomb 13, Reid 10; Ruef 9 rebs; Whitcomb, Woods 4 assts) at Townsville Entertainment Centre. Crowd; 2,631

BENDIGO SPIRIT 95 (Kraker 27, Davis, A.Wilson 15, Froling 12; Davis 10 rebs; A.Wilson 13 assts) d PERTH LYNX 74 (Potter 20, Goodchild 19, Maley 15, Atwell 12; Potter 7 rebs; Goodchild 6 assts) at Bendat Basketball Centre. Crowd: 898

SOUTHSIDE FLYERS 84 (Jackson 20, Mitchell 19, Russell 13; Russell 8 rebs; Mitchell 6 assts) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 82 (Canada 21, Hillmon 20, Reed 12; Hillmon 9 rebs; Canada 8 assts) at Melbourne Sports Centres. Crowd: 3,009