By ROY WARD
THE Dandenong Rangers team that comes back from its road trip to Perth and Adelaide next week will be much different from the one that beat Bulleen on Saturday night.
The Rangers will hit the road looking to take wins over Adelaide Lightning and the in-form West Coast Waves this weekend and they will travel with returned import Krista Phillips and newly signed WNBA star Monica Wright, who is expected to arrive in Australia this week.
Phillips, who missed a couple of matches with a knee injury, played 13 minutes in the Rangers’ 91-77 win over the Bulleen Boomers at Dandenong Stadium on Saturday night and was much better for the run.
The Rangers powered back into the match in the second half after trailing at half-time. The home side side clinched a much-needed win despite losing the rebound count 49-30.
Olympian Jenna O’Hea had a rare triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Kath Macleod led all scorers with 25 points and Steph Cumming added 16 points.
Coach Mark Wright said Phillips was still a few weeks from being “100 per cent” match fit but it was important she was brought back into a big role in the team due to her importance to the side.
Monica Wright will arrive in Australia mid-week and as long as her international paperwork is cleared could, in theory, suit up for the Rangers on the road trip but the coach said he doubted his new player would see much court time over the weekend.
The Minnesota Lynx star played in the WNBA finals recently and her side lost to Indiana Fever.
“She will come on the trip but I doubt she will play much,” Wright said. “It’s too much to throw her onto the court without learning a bit about what we do.
“She will pretty much get a free trip to Adelaide and Perth, but it takes time to get up to speed with our system, so we won’t be expecting much straight away.”
Wright will also drum home to his players the importance of beating the Lightning in Adelaide after the Rangers finished behind them last season and had to play a knockout playoff match against Lightning at Adelaide Arena.
“It’s very important we win this match because they are in good form and with playoffs you never know how the season is going to end up and the league is so even that every win you get kicks you ahead and every loss drops you right back to the pack.”
The Rangers play Adelaide Lightning in Adelaide on Friday night and West Coast Waves in Perth on Saturday night.
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