Bandits produce miserly defence, conceding only 14 points in second half

The Bulls are bottom of the ladder and were never likely to challenge the undefeated leaders, but the Bandits warmed up for the upcoming playoffs by shutting down the visitors' attack in an 88-43 win.

"We were a little bit disappointed with our first half, we had a reasonable first quarter, we held them to 17 points in the second quarter, but it should have been less, we had a chat at half-time about locking in to what we wanted to achieve and they responded really well, only 14 points in the second half is pretty good," coach Sam McDonald offered.

Lauren Jackson missed the game, due to her commitments with the Opals national team, as Mikayla Pivec maintained her sensational form with a triple-double of 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists.

"Mikayla's having a phenomenal season, she's averaging a triple-double for the season as well, it's great to have someone like her out there to lead the ship," McDonald explained.

"We were also able to get some good run into our younger players as well and we've very luck to have Mikayla there to guide them."

Ashlee Hannan and Unique Thompson snared 17 points apiece.

The Bandits are home again to another bottom two outfit in Bankstown on Saturday night in the penultimate round of the regular season.

Meanwhile, the Bandits were outstanding in the men's, posting a 107-88 win over the higher-placed Inner West.

The Bulls were fifth heading into the game, a spot above the Border outfit, but the pair has now swapped places.

The Bandits jumped the visitors to lead by 14 points at quarter-time and pushed ahead slightly for the remainder of the game.

Mitch Dance started from the bench, but top-scored with 22 points, along with 11 rebounds, while Shawn Montague (21pts), Will Hickey (19pts) and Kevion Blaylock (17pts) also contributed.

The Bandits are home to Bankstown, which is 10^th, on Saturday night.