Bendigo's WNBL playoff hopes have been dealt a massive blow due to them dropping both games of their double-game round to slip out of the top four.
The Spirit (10-9) struggled through one of the toughest road trips in the competition, losing in Townsville (11-8) and Canberra (10-8) to allow both teams to leapfrog them with five games left to play.
Bendigo were barely in the contest on Friday night, trailing 25-12 by the end of the first quarter in Townsville, with Fire centre Suzy Batkovic downing 28 points in the 20-point drubbing.
Batkovic's performance comes despite the former Opals player being unable to train with the team during the week as she remains at home in Newcastle dealing with family matters.
"It speaks to how good she is that she can perform like that without training," coach Claudia Brassard said.
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"She's a big-time player and she knows it's crunch time now. She's the type of player who is going to do whatever it takes to win.
"We send her video, she does her homework and shooting down there.
"But certainly it would be better if we can have her up here so we'll see how that pans out."
Townsville's win was also enough to lift them into fourth, which is key when considering they have the toughest run home in the league, during which they play ladder-leaders Dandenong twice and second-placed Sydney once.
After Friday's loss, Bendigo then ran out of juice on Saturday night against Canberra.
After leading by seven at the end of the first quarter before going to the final break with scores tied, the Spirit managed just seven points in the last period to go down 77-63.
Meanwhile, Dandenong (13-5) maintained their lead at the top with an 85-58 flogging of last-placed Adelaide (2-17).
The Lightning, who upset Dandenong earlier in the season, were never in the contest as they shot just 37 per cent from the field and gave away 21 turnovers.
It meant the Rangers remain above Sydney, who have also claimed 13 wins but have played an extra match, courtesy of a 90-78 win over Perth on Saturday.
Perth (11-7) then rebounded to maintain third spot in the round's final game on Sunday, beating Melbourne (4-14) 87-79.
