Rangers cop a beating

By Paul Pickering
DANDENONG looked anything but comfortable at its home away from home in Tasmania on Saturday night, trounced 90-51 by Sydney Uni in Devonport.
The Rangers shot the ball at a lamentable 25 per cent from the field en route to their heftiest defeat of the season.
It was a far cry from the competitive display that almost 1000 locals fans had come to see, and just as far from the promising form of the previous fortnight.
Rangers coach Dale Waters, whose team slumped to 1-6 for the season, said there were no secrets as to difference between the sides.
“They played very, very well and we played poorly,” he reflected.
“We had lots opportunities to knock down open shots, and when you’re not doing that it puts additional pressure on yourself.
“It’s not a hard equation. You put the ball in the hole and you win.”
Imposing Flames centre Suzie Batkovic-Brown did just that, scoring 20 of her 31 points in the first half to give the visitors a 39-24 lead at the main break.
She had great support in frontline partner Nat Porter (10 points, 7 rebounds) and guards Deanna Smith (17) and Mikaela Dombkins, while Dandenong was led by centre Ashley Lindsey (10, 8) and shooting guard Caitlin Ryan (8).
Stephanie Cumming’s two-of-14 shooting night typified the Rangers’ fortunes.
Waters acknowledged the Flames’ size advantage, but said his charges needed to make sure that the game was played on their terms.
“When girls have got 20-25kg on you and you’re content to play in the quarter-court, you’re going to pay the price for that,” he explained.
“We need to be more free-flowing, because we didn’t take advantage of the quickness and athleticism we have in our group.
“The girls are certainly disappointed and they know that it’s not acceptable, particularly given that the last three weeks we’ve made some pretty good progress.”
The Rangers will now head back to Bendigo – for the second time in three weeks – to face the 6-2 Spirit on Saturday night.
The last trip to Bendigo Stadium reaped their first win of the season, so Waters is expecting nothing less than a victory in an early series decider between the Victorian rivals.
“They should get some confidence from the fact that we’ve beaten Bendigo up there on their home court and we can do it again,” he said.