By ROY WARD
DANDENONG Rangers have two weeks left to prepare for the WNBL play-offs.
The Rangers, who are fighting to hold second place and a double chance in the new WNBL top-four system, have road games against Townsville Fire and Logan Thunder this weekend and then host third-placed Adelaide in the last round.
The Rangers got a comfortable 87-67 win over the undermanned Thunder at Dandenong Stadium on Friday night and did so without import centre Krista Phillips, who was out injured with a hamstring strain.
Phillips may also miss the road trip to Queensland if her hamstring is not 100 per cent by the end of the week but that won’t worry to the Rangers too much after 18-year-old Carley Mijovic (10 points, 11 rebounds, three steals, four blocks) impressed in her first start at centre.
Rangers coach Mark Wright said his side now had two weeks to be ready for the play-offs and the chance to win rare back-to-back championships.
“I think we ended up getting some stuff done defensively which we didn’t do in the first half,” he said after the Thunder game.
“We are still a work in progress and we are two weeks away [from the play-offs]. Overall it was a positive win and I thought Logan played really well as well.”
Wright praised Thunder import Laurie Koehn, with the WNBA star shooting five three-pointers in her 22 points.
“Goes to show how fantastic Laurie Koehn is – I think we pressured her as much as we could and she still drilled 22 points,” he said.
Wright said the Rangers’ second half defensive performance gave him confidence about the weeks ahead.
“We didn’t score as much but we stepped it up and played the type of defence which we need to play to go deep into the finals,” he said.
The Rangers play Townsville at Townsville on Friday night and play Logan Thunder in Logan on Sunday afternoon.
For all the latest breaking news, stay with this website. Also, follow the Weekly at facebook.com/dandenongjournal or on Twitter @DandyJournal.
