MVP runner up Maley dominates Borlase's Bendigo

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Perth Lynx head coach Ryan Petrik’s game plan was simple — disrupt the defending champion Bendigo Spirit for 40 minutes in Game 1 of their WNBL26 semi-final series in Perth on Saturday, February 14, 2026.

It also helped to have MVP runner-up Anneli Maley, who had 18 points at halftime. Perth then resisted an early Spirit 6-0 run just after half-time, turning the quarter into a 19-10 arm wrestle before pulling away to claim the 1-0 series lead 86-76.

Maley finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block.

“It’s so tough, this series will be a game of peaks and runs; it was a quality game of basketball,” Maley said.

But it wasn’t without a Spirit fightback in the fourth as they hit three straight threes to get within six, 73-67 with 4:30 to go. But Perth gathered its composure, and the hole was just too deep for Bendigo, as Ally Wilson buried a dagger three with 3:24 to go off Amy Atwell’s offensive rebound to make it 78-69.

basketball.com.au’s Bec Cole said in commentary: “That’s a shot that breaks your heart”.

Lynx guard Alex Ciabattoni all but ended it with another three-ball from the corner off Han Xu’s assist to push the lead to 81-69 with 2:36 left.

Wilson called “game” as Cole declared with another three-ball with 50 seconds left to make it 84-74.

Key Details

• Result: Perth Lynx 86 def. Bendigo Spirit 76
• When: Saturday, 14th February 2026
• Where: Perth High Performance Centre, Perth

"Obviously happy to have won it," Petrik said.

"But I thought we had multiple chances to try and knock them out, and every time we were in that process, they’d come down and hit a big shot, or we’d blow a bunny, or we’d get a scheme wrong. So happy to have won it, but we know there’s a lot to clean up.

"The reality is we’d love to play champagne basketball every second and every minute of the game, but elite teams and elite coaches like Bendigo and Kennedy (Kereama) just won’t let you do that. So can you play enough of it to win?

"Clearly there’s some possessions there, both offensively and defensively, we need to clean up. We’ll go and watch a boatload of film before Tuesday. But again, good opposition in high-pressure, high-stakes moments will make you do things you don’t really want to do."

WNBL26 Coach of the Year Kereama said Game 1 was a steep learning curve for his re-tooled, younger defending champion roster.

"I thought from us we’ll take a lot from that game," he said.

"Some of the things that potentially had been challenges for us previously, I thought we did a great job of navigating as a team today. I thought we really stuck together and hung tough when we needed to. We made some runs late in the game, made some adjustments — the group did a great job of doing those things.

"We won the rebound count, which certainly is only going to help us.

"The things for me — I’m a little stumped just by the disparity in foul shot attempts. You look at the numbers there, 32 to 14. We were going to the paint, penetrating, getting feet in the paint, getting close touches just as much as the Lynx. I’m just not sure, and certainly from my perspective, I’d really like some clarity from our officials — and I know they’ll give it, they’re good with dialogue — for the most part of the game.

"But for me to be able to coach the team and give them the feedback they need to make adjustments, I’m going to need some clarity on those things. I just don’t think that’s conducive. It’s frustrating and hard to give answers to the team on things when I just don’t know how we get trips to the foul line.

"The group doesn’t have residual frustration from certain parts of the game. I still thought we did a good job of sticking to our game plan. But certainly the foul situation was something we spoke about within the game. It wasn’t something that plagued our minds throughout — it was just an observation I made."

Petrik trapped Bendigo’s backcourt after scores, forced multiple turnovers and delayed the Spirit’s ability to get into their offence early in the shot clock. Petrik also switched — but not often — into the 1-3-1 zone that Bendigo had struggled with coming in.

When the Spirit did get to the rim, it blew layups and, combined with struggling to get any rhythm on the offensive side of the ball, struggled to maintain scoreboard pressure.

Bendigo shot 20-47 (42%) from two while Perth shot 15-33 (45%) from inside the arc.

Perth led 29-22 after one, 48-42 at the half and 67-52 at three-quarter time.

Petrik’s scout on WNBL26 MVP Isobel Borlase, 21, was outstanding, but the star guard still had 22 on 7-from-24 from the field, despite struggling from deep (1-from-7).

Game 2 is on Tuesday in Bendigo.