Bendigo scrape past Geelong in a Tuesday night win

Bendigo Spirit have shrugged off a late scare to notch their first win of the WNBL season, beating Geelong Venom 62-55.

In a closely contested game, the Spirit clawed out a major win over an under-manned Geelong in the first Tuesday night game of the season.

The reigning champions had to work hard for it, going more than nine minutes without a score either side of three-quarter time at Bendigo's Red Energy Arena on Tuesday night, before snapping their cold spell down the stretch.

Gun recruit Isobel Borlase scored 20 points for the Spirit, taking home the Player of the Game. While Olympic teammate Marianna Tolo paired 16 points with nine rebounds.

Import Mackenzie Holmes was huge for the Venom, racking up 30 points and 12 boards before fouling out late, which helped Bendigo seize the the final minutes.

Geelong's aggressive, pressing defence held the Spirit to just nine points in the third, with the visitors continuing to ride that pressure and Holmes' brilliance in the fourth, before Bendigo had the final say.

"The second half was terrific, to hold an experienced team like that to 22 points," Venoms coach Chris Lucas said.

"We just didn't reward ourselves at the back end of the game - 10-of-18 from the foul line is not acceptable at this level and it has cost us the game."

Geelong will return home for their Round 3 clash against the Perth Lynx on 1 November at 7:00pm AEDT at Geelong Arena while Bendigo will host the Sydney Flames on 2 November at 12:30pm AEDT at Red Energy Arena.

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