Sirens call Rangers to loss

By Paul Pickering
DANDENONG suffered the indignity of becoming Christchurch’s first Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) scalp on Saturday night as the Sirens emerged from an early-season slumber to shock the Rangers 77-56 at Cowles Stadium.
The scoreline told of an astonishing 46-point turnaround from the last time the sides met just a fortnight ago at Dandenong Stadium.
Rangers coach Dale Waters last week defied consensus to warn that the Sirens would be tough to beat in their second home appearance, but his prophecy was soon realised as Dandenong slumped to a 24-13 first-quarter deficit.
Fuelled by the torment of seven consecutive losses, the Sirens never looked like surrendering their lead in front of a raucous home crowd, extending the margin at each break.
Dandenong’s frontline had no answer for Christchurch’s Donna Wilkins, who notched up 15 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and two steals in a dominant all-court display.
Wilkins was ably supported by Nathalie Purcell (16, 5) and Lamisha Augustine (13 points).
In stark contrast, Rangers post players Michelle Brogan and Shelley Hammonds shot a combined 1/10 from the field for a return of just four points in 44 minutes of action.
Only skipper and point guard Caitlin Ryan (19) found her range for Dandenong, while shooting guard Rachael Flanigan (12) battled through a poor night from the field to shoot a perfect eight from eight from the charity stripe.
After the match, Waters was liberal in his praise for the first-year franchise.
“They’re certainly going to cause a few upsets,” he said.
“Unfortunately, they caused a big upset in beating us on the weekend.”
While Waters saw no reason to panic about the Rangers’ offensive woes, he is keen to see his smalls and talls contribute on the same night.
“We need to have our post game and our perimeter game working in harmony, and that hasn’t been the case in the games we’ve lost so far,” he said.
With three wins and four losses in the first month of the season, Waters says the Rangers are probably a game behind where he expected them to be.
His charges will be hoping to snap a two-game losing streak against the top of the table Adelaide Lighting on Saturday night, just as they did after a double defeat on opening weekend.
Tip-off is at 7.30pm at Dandenong Basketball Stadium.