Bendigo won a Sunday thriller to move up to second behind WNBL leaders Perth, who survived a Kelsey Griffin masterclass to stay on top.
Nadeem Payne made a lay-up with four seconds to go at Bendigo Stadium as Spirit won 66-64, after hapless Sydney couldn't capitalise on a 10-point second-quarter lead.
The win moved Bendigo to 5-2 and second spot behind Perth, who eked out a 71-65 home win over Canberra on Saturday to notch a sixth-straight victory.
Opals squad member Griffen was the runaway match leader in points and rebounds with 30 and 18 respectively, but Perth had a bigger spread of contributors.
"What I'm happy about is that she had 30 and 18, and we still got the win," Lynx coach Andy Stewart said.
Perth's American guard, Brittany McPhee, scored 17 of her team-leading 19 in the second half as Lynx improved to 6-1.
The Flames' latest fruitless round started with a 96-79 loss to the Melbourne Boomers, who scored their first home win of the campaign.
Sydney, who are 0-8, had led by five points early in the second quarter, but couldn't contain Opals Cayla George and Steph Tabot, who scored 27 and 20 respectively.
Melbourne completed a winning double and made it five victories from their past six games, with a 78-70 away conquest on Sunday in Townsville.
Import guard Lindsay Allen scored 29 while six-time league MVP Suzy Batkovic tallied just two on one-of-nine shooting, as Townsville suffered a fourth loss in six games.
Adelaide had six double-digit scorers in their 99-74 home win over Dandenong, who crashed to a fourth-consecutive loss.
The Rangers were too reliant on Rebecca Cole, whose match-high 27 was 17 more than any of her teammates could muster.
