Picture: Stewart Chambers
By Paul Pickering
Dandenong coach Dale Waters is prepared to be patient with his 0-3 Rangers. 14683
DANDENONG Rangers coach Dale Waters has been refusing to panic about his side’s winless start to the WNBL season.
The Rangers slipped to 0-3 after a 75-61 loss to Logan Thunder on Saturday night, but Waters was remaining patient with his revamped outfit.
“Dropping games to Bendigo and Logan at home isn’t great, but we’ve only played three games,” he said.
“We always thought that with five new girls in the group and Nicole (Hunt) not coming in until after four to six weeks, we were always going to face an uphill battle at the start of the season.”
So it proved as the Rangers conceded 48 points in the second and third quarters on Saturday night, giving up a four-point quarter-time lead to trail by 17 at the last break.
Kiwi international Natalie Purcell torched the Rangers for 20 points on four-of-five from beyond the arc, while emerging guards Kristen Veal (16) and Sarah Graham (13) also found their range. Forward Megan Moody (11, 8 rebounds) and skipper Caitlin Ryan (11) led the scoring for the home side, but Ryan’s two-of-11 from the field typified Dandenong’s dismal shooting night. Many of the most costly misses came in the first term, when the Rangers missed two early lay-ups and a handful of attempts inside the paint.
They should have taken a substantial advantage into the first change, but missed their window of opportunity.
American centre Ashley Lindsey (7, 5) scored her first points for the club, making seven free-throws in 18 minutes of action.
Waters thought the Rangers were on the improve after a narrow loss to the highly-fancied Sydney Uni Flames, but had some stern words for his charges on Saturday night.
“But it doesn’t get any tougher than Bulleen this week,” he said.
The Saturday afternoon clash against the Boomers will see the return of former Ranger Liz Cambage, who broke her junior club’s heart by opting to join Bulleen on return from the Australian Institute of Sport this winter.
The 1pm tip-off will give Dandenong extra time to recover for the trip to Bendigo to face the Spirit on Sunday afternoon.
