Rangers slip to fourth

By Mark Gullick
LIFE without Kath MacLeod is proving difficult for the Dandenong Rangers, who have slumped to fourth on the WNBL ladder after successive defeats.
It’s no coincidence that the Rangers have lost two of the three matches the star guard has missed.
The Ranges were overcome in the final minutes by seventh-place West Coast Waves to lose 77-72 at Stud Road on Saturday.
West Coast had just one win from its previous three outings and was backing-up after its narrow loss in Bendigo the previous evening.
“They are playing hard and playing well and they should have beaten Bendigo,” Rangers coach Mark Wright said. “You have to play hard to beat them and we didn’t. We’re disappointed, but West Coast were very competitive.”
The Waves jumped out of the blocks with an early 14-2 lead, before an 11-point run dragged the Rangers back into the match.
The Rangers turned a five-point quarter-time deficit into a six-point half-time lead on the back of increased intensity and smarter basketball.
West Coast was strangled in the second quarter by a cohesive, frugal Rangers defence that allowed just one field goal for the period.
Dandenong was again on the back-foot during the third term as West Coast quickly evened out the scores.
A three-pointer by long-time Opals star Tully Bevilaqua placed the scores in the Waves’ favour 53-52 at the final break.
The final term was a desperate and physical struggle as the Rangers sought to starve off their dogged opponent.
With one minute remaining, the scores were locked at 72-all.
Former US college forward Samantha Norwood, who had been the Rangers’ adversary all match, scored the final five points of the match to guide the Waves to victory.
“We had our chances,” Wright said. “When the game matters, we had no one that could hit the big shots.”
The loss was another in a series of disappointing results for the Rangers.
“We’ve lost to Logan, Townsville, Bendigo and now West Coast,” he said.
“We’re still tying to come to grips with that. If we want to play finals, then we had to tick those boxes as wins. Those were four games we should have won and didn’t. We’re fourth, but we should be first or second.”
Norwood led the Waves with 24 points and 7 rebounds.
Australian Youth representative Rebecca Mercer scored 13 points and Bevilaqua chimed in with 11 points and six assists.
While Wright was pleased with some of his players, he wanted more from others.
“Tracy Gahan (17 points, 13 rebounds) was fantastic,” Wright said. “She couldn’t have done any more. Sam Woosnam (13 points, six rebounds, 4 assists) and Steph Cumming (11 points, 4 assists) were fantastic. Abby Bishop (10 points, 8 rebounds) struggled. She hit only four shots from 16, when she would normally hit eight of those shots. Lauren King struggled and Chantella Perera is hot and cold. We know it’s going to click, it’s just a matter of when it all comes together.”
Dandenong travels to Sydney for the difficult fixture against the Flames on Saturday evening.