Dandenong WNBL coach Dale Waters lays down the law to his charges. By Paul Pickering
A DUBIOUS honour befell the home side at Dandenong Stadium on Friday night as the wayward Rangers registered the lowest score of the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) season in an embarrassing 53-43 loss to Townsville.
To the collective groans of the Dandenong faithful, the Rangers shot a deplorable 26 per cent from the field to take their early season shooting woes to a new low.
Having established a 17-9 quarter-time lead, Dandenong connected on only 10 of its next 51 shots for the evening.
While the Fire was far from firing at the other end, the trio of Rohanee Cox (16 points, nine rebounds), Jennifer Crouse (12, 10) and Tania Baxter (12) did enough to secure an undeniably ugly victory.
With veteran Opal Michelle Brogan still sidelined with a calf strain and centre Shelley Hammonds rolling her ankle in the second quarter, it was left to Larissa Anderson (20, 10) and Caitlin Ryan (11, 6) to combine for all but 12 of their team’s points.
Having restructured his offence after the previous week’s lacklustre loss to Bendigo, Rangers coach Dale Waters this week conceded he was still looking for the answers.
“We looked a lot more fluent (on Friday night) and we got some better looks, but you’ve got to say missing a number of high-percentage shots at critical times killed us,” he said.
Astonishingly, the Rangers made their first and only trip to the free-throw line with 39 seconds left to play.
“We just didn’t get enough penetration towards the basket and that was reflected in our inability to get to the foul line,” Waters said.
With too much responsibility falling on senior players, Waters has vowed to give his back-ups every opportunity to make an impact in coming weeks.
That strategy will be tested this weekend, with both Brogan and Hammonds rated no better than a 50-50 chance of suiting up against Canberra on Friday night.
The Rangers have now slumped to seventh on the ladder with a 4-6 win-loss ratio.
“The main thing we need to get – to move forward – is people back on deck,” Waters said.
This weekend’s tough double-header also includes a rematch with the Bendigo Spirit – Dandenong’s bogey team of late – in Traralgon on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s going to be a challenge, because it doesn’t get any easier for us,” Waters said.
