No end for Rangers’ slump

By Paul Pickering
DANDENONG coach Dale Waters admits that he’s sick of honourable losses.
The Rangers suffered their eighth straight defeat on Saturday night, succumbing to the red-hot Bulleen Boomers for the third time in four rounds.
The 66-57 scoreline was far from disastrous, but it basically ended Dandenong’s hopes of securing a playoff berth – one more win from Bendigo would put the Rangers out of calculations.
Dandenong slumped to a 15-point deficit just after the three-quarter-time break, before cutting the margin to six on the back of a Caitlin Ryan three-pointer with four minutes to play.
Once again some costly turnovers and poor shooting robbed the Rangers of any chance of an improbable win.
They probably shouldn’t have been afforded that chance, given that Bulleen won each of the first three quarters and the Rangers shot the ball at an ordinary clip of 34 per cent throughout the night.
But the late Ranger rally provided some optimism for Waters and the Stud Road crowd, as did the performances of import centre Jenni Benningfield (15 points) – returning to the starting line-up after suffering a fractured eye socket – and maturing guard Katie Ebzery (12, five assists).
Emily McInerny had 12 boards and five assists for the night, but also committed six turnovers.
For the visitors, it was former Ranger Shelley Hammonds (15, eight rebounds) and reigning WNBL player of the week Katrina Hibbert (14) who shone among a star-studded Bulleen line-up.
Waters, not surprisingly, was full of praise for the Boomers after the match.
“They’re probably the one team that could challenge Canberra to win the whole thing this season,” he declared.
“They’ve got the depth and the experience to do it.”
Meanwhile, Waters will be looking to test Dandenong’s depth by giving more opportunities to fringe players over the remaining six games of the season.
“We’re going down that path now already,” he said.
“But it’s more about rewarding those who are working hard. There’s no questioning the effort from this group, but at times our decision-making lets us down a bit.”
The Rangers hit the road for back-to-back games against Adelaide and Perth this weekend, and Waters believes it might be the best thing for his charges.
“I think it’s good timing, because we haven’t travelled since November, so it’ll be good for them to get away and spend some time together,” he said.
The Lightning game on Friday night will be televised on ABC2 from 8pm, while the Perth clash will be played on Saturday night.