Perth Lynx beat Bendigo Spirit to qualify for WNBL grand final as Han Xu and Anneli Maley dominate

Perth Lynx coach Ryan Petrik has declared his team has been built to win the championship after it swept Bendigo Spirit to win through to the club’s third grand final in five years. The Lynx won 81-75 at Red Energy Arena on Tuesday as Han Xu and Anneli Maley produced stunning performances. Xu had 25 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks while Maley scored 22 points and won 14 rebounds. Perth have experienced grand final heartache under Petrik. The 2022 team lived interstate for most of the season due to border closures, won the opening game of the grand final series and had the chance to send game two to overtime before import Marina Mabrey missed a free throw and the team lost game three. They then stormed into the finals with a brilliant finish to the 2024 season, dominated game one and had the chance to win the title on their home floor, but missed crucial shots and were defeated on the buzzer. They then lost game three on the road. Petrik said the 2026 Lynx was vastly more prepared than two years ago. “That team was on track to finish fifth, and we somehow made it,” he said. “This team has been built to win a championship from day one. They’re two different roster constructions. “The difference this year is we have a more balanced line up. This year we have defenders. That team from two years ago was built with all-out offence because that’s all we could afford back then and that’s all we could get access to. “We didn’t have the budget of the bigger teams so we built a Moneyball team to play flat-out offence and see what happens. It got us a free throw away from winning the whole thing. “This time we are one the heavy-hitter teams with a much more balanced lineup. We can play defence, we have rim protection, we’ve got perimeter defenders, we can shoot from everywhere. It’s just a much more balanced overall roster.” The Lynx will play the winner of the series between Townsville Fire and Southside Melbourne Flyers. Townsville lead that series 1-0 after dominating the first clash. Bendigo star and WNBL MVP Isobel Borlase did her best to rip the game away from Perth. She was brilliant with 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Kelsey Griffin had 18 points and 15 rebounds and revealed after the match that she is now considering retirement. But the Lynx have been a dominant team since Xu arrived midway through the season. Petrik said he is thrilled to win the series in two games. “If you’d told us going into the series we would have taken that in a heartbeat. If it wasn’t always pretty, then so be it because we really rate Bendigo,” he said.