Above: Carly Wilson has her eyes fixed on the ball. Her effort against the AIS side earned her the WNBL player of the week award.By Glen Atwell
DESPITE taking a quarter to begin rolling, the Dandenong Rangers juggernaut squashed the Australian Institute of Sport students 94-57 at the Dandenong Basketball Stadium on Friday night.
But a classy first quarter by the AIS had Rangers head coach Gary Fox shifting in his seat.
The students led 19-18 at quarter-time, hitting 57 per cent of their field opportunities compared to Rangers’ 31 per cent.
The AIS was working hard in defence and could have enjoyed a bigger lead had it not sent the Rangers to the free-throw line nine times to score eight important points.
As the Rangers lifted the tempo in the second quarter, the AIS side started to feel the pressure.
At times the students struggled to move the ball past the 10-second line, and committed basic errors in the back court that resulted in Dandenong points.
Jacinta Hamilton, who scored 30 points for the Rangers, hit two baskets in 10 seconds – scoring then intercepting a sloppy AIS before sinking another shot.
When Caitlin Ryan and Emily McInerney each made three-point plays, the momentum had swung and the Rangers led 36-27.
By half-time the lead was 11 points, and Hamilton had already contributed 23 points to the 42-31 scoreline.
An even third quarter saw Dandenong increase the lead by just a point as the AIS threw everything at the reigning champions.
The students were still in striking distance at the final break, but the Rangers were never going to let the game slide and returned to the court to blow away any chance of AIS victory.
The 34-10 scoring rampage had the Dandenong crowd on its feet as Jenna O’Hea scored 13 points and Ryan added 10 to help the side run away with an easy win.
Compounding the problems for the winless AIS was a nasty ankle injury to star player Abby Bishop in the last quarter.
Bishop was running backwards into defence and seemed to lightly stumble, before crashing to the floor in agonising pain.
Despite leaving the court, Bishop was the top scorer for the AIS with 13 points.
The Rangers venture north this weekend for a double-header beginning Friday night against Townsville and then in Sydney on Saturday night.
If the Townsville Fire can seriously challenge the Rangers on Friday, the Sydney side might just serve the Dandenong team its second loss on Saturday.
