Piece of cake: Xu bakes Spirit for 26 points and seven boards

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Han Xu proves you can have your cake and eat it too - literally and figuratively.

The 27-year-old Chinese international and New York Liberty back-up centre took the blender to Bendigo with 26 points and seven rebounds, leading Geelong Venom to a 77-70 win in Round 3 of WNBL27 at Selkirk Stadium in Ballarat on Monday, November 2, 2026.

The Venom went to 2-2 without star backcourt Madi Rocci and Bec Cole, and head coach Cheryl Chambers revealed Xu was having an immediate impact both on and off the floor.

"Brings cake," Chambers said of Xu's commitment to building chemistry with teammates.

Venom guard Lilly Rotunno, who is running the point in Rocci's absence, is a sponge as she learns to play with the 2.11m 102-game WNBA veteran.

"She does bring cake," Rotunno said.

"She likes to treat us a lot.

"She is an unbelievable person. She is so positive, and even after some of those losses we had, she's never stressed.

"She pulls me aside, especially being a point guard and learning how to play with someone like that.

"I've never been on a team with a player like Han, and learning where she likes the ball, that's only going to grow over time.

"Off the court, she is an unbelievable human. She's so positive and so supportive and gets around everyone. It creates such a good team vibe, and you see that on the court, even down the stretch.

"Even after our losses, we've stayed positive, not let us get bogged down in the dumps.

"Basketball's such a - highs are highs and lows are lows - but she is definitely a good leadership person to have on our team to keep us bouncing back and staying positive as a group.

"She's definitely a funny character, 100 per cent."

Rocci and Cole's return will be the icing, but in the meantime, Chambers said: "We've got a young group with some people out, and to respond after a loss shows the character we've got. We're working really well in the right direction."

The Spirit are still searching for their first win of WNBL27, dropping to 0-3 as they wait for the return of WNBL26 MVP Isobel Borlase from the United States.

Borlase, 22, played a key role in the Atlanta Dream's WNBA Finals campaign and had eight points off the bench in Game 7 yesterday (November 2, 2026 AEDT).

"I was freaking expecting her here today!" Spirit head coach Kennedy Kereama said in jest.

"What are you doing, Izzy? How long do we have to wait?

"No, we've had communication with Izzy as far as what that looks like for her. She still has to go through the WNBA review process with her club in Atlanta and then shift her life back here.

"It's been a huge year for her and for Jade (Melbourne), both playing WNBA, playing in a World Champs for the Opals and then moving pretty quickly back to a WNBL season.

"No different to Jade - we were able to give Jade a small amount of time off so she could decompress - Izzy will be no different.

"But I would expect her sometime in the next couple of rounds to land and be back here in Australia.

"A definitive, exact date is still to be confirmed, but certainly sometime very soon."

The Spirit led 68-66 with 1:37 to go, but Rotunno's dagger three gave the visitors the lead for good. Xu had back-to-back buckets, and Alex Sharp and Dakota Crichton made clutch free throws to ice it.

"For a good part of that, I was really happy with how we applied ourselves and applied our game plan," Kereama said.

"Certainly not making excuses, but I think there were some real challenges around management as the game went on.

"Han was really effective, particularly late in the fourth quarter, as we were fatigued and losing a bit of defensive shape.

"Unfortunately, due to load management and foul trouble early in the game, we had to play her really early. We spent a lot of petrol tickets very early in the first half and utilised her to the best of our ability with the minutes we were able to utilise her for.

"I'm really happy with a number of players in terms of how they stepped up. Casey (Samuels)'s a really good example of that. I've asked her to play a very different role from the roles she's played in previous seasons for the Spirit.

"I think a lot of this is going to be some real growing pains, with us trying to figure this stuff out whilst we're still looking to add, and then we've got subtraction happening at the same time.

"But again, the way Casey applied herself today, rebounding - she was our leading rebounder with nine. I thought she played great defence. I thought she was aggressive and shot the ball when she was open.

"This and more - not that I'm going to ask you for more, mate - but I think she's a very capable player.

"For us, it's just about finding consistency. For probably the first time this season, I thought we were pretty consistent with applying ourselves to a game plan.

"We let ourselves down, as I mentioned, in a number of areas.

"I'm sure I'm going to get asked the same question, so I'll be able to give you four or five different answers."

What you need to know

• The Geelong Venom beat the Bendigo Spirit 77-70 at Selkirk Stadium in Ballarat on Monday night in Round 3 of WNBL27, coming from 53-48 down at the last change. Geelong are 2-2 and Bendigo are 0-3.
• Geelong won the first quarter 16-14 and the fourth 29-17, and Bendigo won the second 19-10 and the third 20-16. Bendigo led 33-26 at half-time and by as many as eight in the third, at 43-35.
• Han Xu top-scored with 26 points on 11-from-17, 11 of them in the fourth quarter. Jade Melbourne led Bendigo with 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists on 9-from-17, playing all 40 minutes.
• The lead changed hands five times in the last four minutes. Alex Sharp's three made it 62-60 with 3:55 left, Geelong's first lead since early in the second quarter, and Lilly Rotunno's three made it 69-68 with 1:37 left. Geelong led from there, with Xu scoring twice and Sharp and Dakota Crichton hitting both free throws each.
• Geelong went 15-from-17 at the line to Bendigo's 8-from-10, a seven-point gap in a seven-point game, and were 8-from-8 in the fourth. They also had 13 offensive rebounds to Bendigo's four and won the rebounds 45-34, while Bendigo made 10 threes to Geelong's eight.

Milestones

• Casey Samuels passed 500 career WNBL rebounds. Her eighth of the game, with 6:43 left in the third quarter, was her 500th, and she finished on 501.
• Jade Melbourne moved to 499 career WNBL rebounds and 1,409 career WNBL points.
• Kelly Wilson played her 481st WNBL game.
• Samuels also played her 189th WNBL game.
• Abigail Wehrung played her 233rd WNBL game and moved to 1,852 career WNBL points.
• Marianna Tolo moved to 3,315 career WNBL points.

Geelong Venom

• Han Xu top-scored with 26 points, seven rebounds and a block on 11-from-17, with 11 points in the fourth quarter, including the baskets that made it 71-68 and 73-70 in the last minute.
• Lilly Rotunno had 13 points and five assists on 5-from-12, seven of her points coming in the fourth, including the three that put Geelong in front for good at 69-68 with 1:37 left.
• Indiah Bowyer had 12 points and six rebounds on 5-from-16, nine of her points coming in the third quarter.
• Dakota Crichton scored 10 off the bench on 3-from-5, including 2-from-3 from three, and hit both free throws for 77-70 with eight seconds left.
• Alex Sharp had eight points, a game-high 17 rebounds and four assists, shooting 1-from-8 from the field and 5-from-6 at the line, with five offensive rebounds and the three that gave Geelong a 62-60 lead.
• Sara-Rose Smith had four points and five rebounds off the bench, all four points in the second half.
• Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard had four points on 1-from-5, all in the first half.
• Geelong shot 27-from-69 from the field, 8-from-28 from three and 15-from-17 at the line, with 45 rebounds, 10 assists and five turnovers.

Bendigo Spirit

• Jade Melbourne top-scored with 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists on 9-from-17, including 2-from-6 from three, playing all 40 minutes. Her three made it 68-66 with 1:59 left, Bendigo's last lead.
• Olivia Pollerd scored 12 off the bench on 5-from-11, including 2-from-6 from three, with eight of her points in the third quarter.
• Marianna Tolo had 12 points and four rebounds on 5-from-8 in 21 minutes.
• Casey Samuels had 10 points and nine rebounds on 3-from-9, including 2-from-6 from three, passing 500 career WNBL rebounds. She also had four turnovers.
• Kelly Wilson had six points off the bench, both her makes from three.
• Kelsey Griffin had five points on 1-from-5 and four fouls, her two free throws tying it at 62-62 with 3:38 left.
• Abigail Wehrung had three points on 1-from-8, her three making it 65-64 with 2:54 left.
• Bendigo shot 26-from-62 from the field, 10-from-33 from three and 8-from-10 at the line, with 34 rebounds, 14 assists and nine turnovers.