Dandenong WNBL coach Dale Waters believes the Rangers are back on track after a 87-63 win over Perth on Saturday night.By Paul Pickering
A DYNAMIC debutante and an evergreen veteran inspired the Dandenong Rangers to a runaway 87-63 home victory against the Perth Lynx in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) on Saturday night.
In a fitting convergence of the squad’s youth and experience, the Rangers were led by 30-year-old playing assistant coach Larissa Anderson and 21-year-old tyro Chantella Perera – playing their 250th and first WNBL games respectively.
In her anticipated return from United States college duties with California’s Fresno State University, Perera wasted no time in justifying the big raps placed on her by Dandenong coach Dale Waters.
Despite having a scratchy shooting night, with 16 points on 4/14 from the field, the Sapphires’ under 21 World Championship gold medallist was the offensive livewire the Rangers have been missing.
“She probably could’ve had 20-odd, which was pretty good for her first game back,” Waters said.
“Chantella’s going to fit in really well with our group.
“She’s the dynamic guard that can get to the basket, so her arrival’s quite timely for us.”
Early on, though, it looked like former Ranger guard Samantha Richards would steal the show on her return to Dandenong Stadium.
Richards scored 14 of her 23 points in the first term to guide the Lynx to a three-point lead.
But Anderson (25 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals, three blocks) came off the bench in her milestone match to ignite the Rangers after quarter-time.
A second-quarter defensive lockdown was followed by an offensive explosion from Dandenong’s experienced frontline of Anderson, Michelle Brogan (13, 12) and Shelley Hammonds (14, 7) after half-time.
And while the Lynx narrowed the deficit to seven with nine minutes to run on the clock, the Rangers quickly pulled away in front of their home crowd.
Waters lavished praise on his assistant coach after the match, suggesting that her 12th season in the league may prove her finest yet.
“The great thing about Larissa is she always rises to the occasion,” he said.
“I think this could be the best season to date, she’s just really enjoying playing and being out there.”
With games against the Townsville Fire (Sunday) and the Australian Institute of Sport (Wednesday) to come before the break, Waters has set his team to win both at home.
“If we can do that and go in 8-7 we can set ourselves up to hopefully launch an attack on one of those finals spots,” he said, noting the importance of Sunday’s fifth versus sixth clash.
Two weeks ago the Rangers hit their lowest point of the season in a 53-43 loss to the Fire at home, but Waters believes a lot has changed in a fortnight.
“I’m confident that we’ve improved offensively in the past two weeks, and we’ve continued to be the best team in the league defensively,” he said.
“So if we can continue to do that I think we can take care of Townsville on Sunday.”
Tip-off is at 1pm at Dandenong Basketball Stadium.
