Rangers fall short

By Paul Pickering
DANDENONG’S pretty-in-pink Rangers fell short of WNBL yardstick Adelaide on Friday night, but a bumper crowd and worthy cause provided plenty to celebrate at Stud Road.
The Lightning’s 80-66 win extended its unbeaten run to four, while the Rangers – wearing their Pink Ribbon Day strip in support of breast cancer research – slumped to 1-2 for the season.
A near-capacity crowd saw the home side battle bravely to stay within striking distance of the reigning champions, but the Lightning responded to every Ranger rally.
Dandenong import Jenni Benningfield (21 points) had the local fans on their feet early, scoring her team’s first eight points on an array of post-up moves.
Benningfield’s duel with Lightning young gun Cayla Francis (16, 11 rebounds) was a highlight, but it was Adelaide’s established star, Jess Foley (20, 10), whose eight first-quarter points led the visitors to an 18-17 advantage.
Benningfield picked up her third foul midway through the second term, and the Rangers struggled to find a post option in her absence.
Caitlin Ryan (12) tried to pick up the scoring slack from behind the arc, but connected on just three of 12 attempts for the night.
Adelaide led by as many as 13 late in the second and 11 in the last minute of the third, before the unheralded Alison Downie (13, 7) sparked a Dandenong fightback.
The Rangers drew within three points midway through the last when Caitlin Ryan slashed into the key to deliver a shovel pass to Benningfield for the lay-up, but the Lighting scored the next seven points to put the result beyond doubt.
Dandenong coach Dale Waters was delighted with the local support for the club and the cause (breast cancer research), but not the result.
“It’s a great initiative and the stands were packed, so it was disappointing from the point of view that we lost,” Waters said after the match. But the good thing about this team is that they kept fighting and got it back to three points.”
Adelaide monstered Dandenong on the offensive boards, grabbing 18-9 for the night and scoring 17 second-chance points to the Rangers’ two.
Waters said his side needs the likes of Caitlin Cunningham (0) and Faith Probst (2) to be more productive in the post, and he’s confident that will come with time.
Despite falling short of the league benchmark, Waters is comfortable in the knowledge that he has plenty of young talent to work with.
“I think the good thing for us is that there’s still a lot of room for improvement,” he said. “(The Lightning) are a good team now, but we’ll see how we improve and develop, and I’m looking forward to playing them later in the season.”
The Rangers will be expected to bounce back against the last-placed Perth Lynx on the road this Saturday night.