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BENDIGO kept alive its WNBL playoff hopes with twin wins in Round 13, Melbourne Boomers and Southside Flyers virtually put Perth out of contention, and 2022 FIBA World Cup All Star Five selection Stephanie Talbot made a triumphant return, igniting Lightning while a cyclone shut down another key fixture.

Cyclone Kirrily forced the postponement of the Townsville-Southside clash in far north Queensland, which no doubt contributed to the Flyers splitting the round after copping a torching from the Flames in Sydney.

Without having to play three fixtures as scheduled, they had plenty in the tank to see off a depleted Lynx, Perth's twin road losses in Melbourne pulling the rug from its top four ambitions.

Now 9-10, the Lynx have Canberra (home) and Bendigo (away) to go and may be able to get to 11-10. But the Spirit will not be a gimme as they too, at 9-9, have playoff aspirations.

Their road to the post-season consists of Canberra and Townsville away, Perth at home. Two wins, including the Lynx at home, would give Bendigo the upper ladder rung.

Meantime Sydney (11-8) continues to fly under the radar but has levelled its series with Southside (11-7) in emphatic fashion with a season-series decider to come ... in Sydney.

Round 13:

MELBOURNE seized its game against Perth by the throat early, Jordin Canada and Monique Conti terrorising the lanes as it raced 11-0 clear before Alex Ciabattoni broke the Lynx's dry start.

But from 11-2, the Boomers piled on the next 12 points and at 23-2, this looked over.

Canada stroking a transition three on the quarter-time buzzer made it a 33-9 first period, the best of the year, the Lynx scoring a meagre three baskets.

Former Boomer Miela Goodchild, with 10 of her 15 points in the second quarter, led a spirited Perth revival, ably assisted by Ashlee Hannan (7 points in the period) and when Anneli Maley completed a three-point play, the Lynx had cut it all the way back to 41-48.

Conti then doused the resurgence with a 3-pointer but Perth's 32-point second quarter left it in with a genuine chance.

Having the best game of her brief WNBL career as Aari McDonald's injury replacement, Teige Morrell (14 points, 10 rebounds) gave Perth life again with the first score of the second half but Conti peeled off eight straight points and the Boomers again tightened their grip.

The margin steadily blew back into deep double digits, Canada (7 steals with 7 assists, 17 points and a couple of boards) continued to terrorise and outsmart her opponents, Sara Blicavs a constant on the boards, Conti having a career-high 19 points, Naz Hillmon and Keely Froling delivering 15 and 16 points respectively at 67 per cent apiece.

But it was Melbourne's defence which stood out for most of the game, containing Perth's guns such as Maley (8 points at 28 per cent), Emily Potter (4 points, 2-of-11), Amy Atwell (2 points, 1-of-4 shooting) and eventually Goodchild (15 on 4-of-15) that clinched the season-series and sent the Lynx's plans into a downward spiral.   

MELBOURNE BOOMERS 90 (Conti 19, Canada 17, Froling 16, Hillmon 15, Blicavs 11; Blicavs 12 rebs; Canada 7 assts) d PERTH LYNX 76 (Goodchild 15, Morrell 14, Clinch Hoycard 13; Maley 11 rebs; Goodchild 4 assts) at Melbourne Sports Centres. Crowd: 1,626

WITH Opals guard Jade Melbourne managing a minor lower leg injury and rested from Canberra's team against the Spirit in Bendigo, it was going to be a tough night for the Capitals.

Even with Melbourne suiting there would have been no guarantee the Caps could get this one but without her, it was always going to be a long night. 

Jayda Clark made her debut as a starter but it was a steep learning curve, Alex Sharp (20 points, 11 rebounds) tying the game at 12-12 midway through the first quarter before a 13-2 Spirit outrage that set up what was to inevitably follow. 

Alex Wilson's 23 points included 4-of-8 triples, plus six boards and four assists, Kelsey Griffin's 23 gleaned at 63 percent and accompanied by nine rebounds as Bendigo maintained its advantage to the finish.

BENDIGO SPIRIT 93 (Griffin, A.Wilson 23, Kraker 12; Griffin 9 rebs; Kraker 6 assts) d UNI OF CANBERRA CAPITALS 75 (Sharp 20, Fowler 14, Okoye 11; Sharp 11 rebs; Fowler 6 assts) at Red Energy Arena. Crowd: 1,180

IN SYDNEY, the Flames asserted the edge early and came at a disappointing Southside with a myriad of weapons for which the Flyers had no answer.

Leilani Mitchell's recent insertion into the Flyers' starting group has paid off but by the end of the first quarter, Sydney built a 29-18 buffer Southside would not catch.

Import Didi Richards (18 points at 75 percent, 12 rebounds, four assists) continued to flourish, Cayla George and Lauren Nicholson both with 21 points, Tess Madgen 13 with four 3-pointers and Paige Bradley 11.

Shanice Swain's 10 points off the bench came at 67 percent, Sydney knocking it down at 53 percent and 50 from outside the arc (13-of-26).

In contrast, Southside shot it at 42 percent and while Maddi Rocci tickled a career-high with 10 rebounds, she conversely had five points on 1-of-10 shooting.   

SYDNEY FLAMES 102 (George, Nicholson 21, Richards 18, Madgen 13, Bradley 11, Swain 10; Richards 12 rebs; Bradley 6 assts) d SOUTHSIDE FLYERS 81 (Cole, Jackson 17, Dickey 11, Mitchell 10; Rocci 10 rebs; Cole 6 assts) at Quaycentre. Crowd: 2,081

TOWNSVILLE FIRE V SOUTHSIDE FLYERS postponed due to Cyclone Kirrily.

THE big joy at Adelaide 36ers Arena as Lightning smashed Canberra by 17 points was the successful return from ACL surgery and rehab of a league MVP in Steph Talbot.

With Alex Sharp continuing her eye-catching form for another 20-point, 9-rebound double, Canberra hung around in the game and only trailed 53-57 at the last break.

A Liz Tonks 3-pointer late in the period blew Adelaide's buffer out to four but Gemma Potter, Sharp and Alex Fowler conspired for a 6-0 start to the last which put the Caps ahead 59-57.

From there though, Talbot, Brianna Turner (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Lauren Mansfield, with 10 straight points of her own, turned the game inside-out.

Lightning went 27-8 to the siren, Jocelyn Willoughby's 21 points including a perfect 3-of-3 threes, Mansfield with 14 of her 17 points in the quarter.

Talbot's return yielded 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a block in 20 minutes, and an inestimable amount of inspiration. 

ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 84 (Willoughby 21, Mansfield 17, Turner 16, Talbot 14, Bourne 11; Turner 11 rebs; Mansfield 7 assts) d UNI of CANBERRA CAPITALS 67 (Sharp 20, Potter 13, Fowler, Melbourne 9; Sharp 9 rebs; Melbourne 11 assts) at Adelaide 36ers Arena. Crowd: 840

MONIQUE Conti stroking threes partially compensated for Melbourne being called for six fouls before Bendigo committed its first infraction, scores tied 19-19 at the first break.

But the Boomers already were hampered by fouls and that would never end, the officiating crew seeing purple and calling Melbourne for 22 fouls compared to Bendigo's 11.

That translated to 25 free throws for the Spirit and 10 for the Boomers, a situation so disproportionate and not reflective of the game that it probably warrants deeper investigation.

Unable or prevented from ever truly finding a groove, it was only a matter of time before Bendigo would cash in, Kelsey Griffin, Alex Wilson and Alicia Froling the architects of a 29-19 third period that allowed the Spirit sufficient breathing space to control momentum.

Abbey Wehrung and Casey Samuels landed timely bombs for Bendigo while Tera Reed, in her best game of the year, battled relentlessly to compile a Melbourne and personal career-high 21 points at 50 percent, Conti's 17 also at 50. 

BENDIGO SPIRIT 80 (Griffin 20, Froling 15, A.Wilson 13; Griffin, A.Wilson 8 rebs; A.Wilson 4 assts) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 70 (Reed 21, Conti 17, Hillmon 11; Froling 12 rebs; Canada 6 assts) at Red Energy Arena. Crowd: 327

YOU'VE got to hand it to Canberra. Kristen Veal has the Caps fighting to the finish, even when the finish was obvious a quarter earlier.

Trailing top team Townsville 56-76 with a period to play, the Capitals stayed hungry, Gemma Potter with 12 of her team-high 25 points in the quarter as Canberra cut the final deficit back to eight.

Shannon Seebohm had to draw "Iron Woman" games from naturalised Opals guard Sami Whitcomb (22 points), leaving her out there for the full 40 minutes, the same as Steph Reid.

Reid (23 points at 63 percent, 7 assists, four steals) was instrumental in the win, Townsville breaking an early 8-8 tie with a 9-0 run that laid the foundation for a 25-16 lead after one.

A similar 29-16 third period in which Cassie Brown played a substantial role guaranteed the Fire would lead by 20 at the last break.

Time to put the cue in the rack?

 Obviously not, Canberra fighting it out and Seebohm's two Opals suffering from no rest for the wicked.

TOWNSVILLE FIRE 91 (Reid 23, Whitcomb 22, Woods 17, Brown 14, Ruef 10; Ruef 8 rebs; Reid 7 assts) d UNI of CANBERRA CAPITALS 83 (Potter 25, Sharp 15, Munger 14, Bunton 10; Sharp 9 rebs; Melbourne 6 assts) at National Convention Centre. Crowd: 1,699

ALREADY minus star import playmaker Aari McDonald, the pre-game loss of Anneli Maley (foot) meant no-one could back the Lynx for an upset at Southside.

Down your best import and foremost Aussie? Forget it. Oops. No-one told Perth. Amy Atwell, Miela Goochild, Alex Ciabattoni, Ashlee Hannan, Steph Gorman ... the Lynx came to the party and were passing out the balloons, ahead 25-19 after one.

But all good things must come to an end.

Once Leilani Mitchell started stroking threes, Bec Cole scoring and/or dishing, Mercedes Russell and Lauren Jackson owning the boards, Southside did a flyer with a whopping 34-17 second period that closed this as a contest.

An 11-point third period and a meagre 17 in the last meant Perth was playing catch-up from too far back to be of any real threat, Cheryl Chambers able to clear her bench.

SOUTHSIDE FLYERS 91 (Mitchell 22, Russell, Cole 21, Rocci 13; Jackson, Russell 10 rebs; Rocci 9 assts) d PERTH LYNX 70 (Atwell 24, Gorman 12, Goodchild 10; Atwell 6 rebs; Clinch Hoycard, Goodchild 3 assts) at State Basketball Centre. Crowd: 1,064