THE last hurdles are being leapt in pursuit of the WNBL finals, with Dandenong set to face Townsville and Logan on the road in a weekend double-header.
Dandenong goes into the match with winning records against both sides, but a lot will hinge on the fitness of star centre Krista Phillips – who sat out the Rangers’ 20-point win over Logan on Friday night with a hamstring strain.
The Rangers tried to pull away from the Thunder, but the visitors’ perimeter shooting kept them in the match.
Lori Koehn (22 points, 5/8 3PT) and Kristen Veal (12) hit their long shots to hold Dandenong to an eight-point lead at the half.
From there Dandenong kept pushing – showing aerial dominance with nine blocks and a 42-40 rebound count.
Eventually the Rangers’ run wore down the Thunder, giving Rangers coach Mark Wright a chance to rest his stars and get some valuable minutes into the bench.
Kath MacLeod (20 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds) impressed in her usual style, while special credit has to go to Carley Mijovic (10 points, 11 rebounds) and Sara Blicavs (6 points, 8 rebounds) stepping up to fill the 5-spot excellently in Phillips’ absence.
Wright said he was happy with the win, but needed to find ways to curb Koehn’s influence on Sunday when the sides face again.
“You can never be too disappointed with a win, but I think it just goes to show you how fantastic Laurie Koehn is,” Wright said. “We pressured her as much as we possibly could and she still drilled 22 points with as good of a defence as we could put on them.”
Wright congratulated Mijovic and Blicavs on their performances – putting paid to a good future in the tall spots for Dandenong.
“I think it was a bit of a nervous thing for her (Mijovic) starting, but I think she managed that really well, she had 10 and 11 and that’s fantastic – we can’t ask for any more from an 18-year-old,” Wright said.
“Sara had 6 and 8 and there’s a lot of effort in that so we’re pretty happy.”
Wright said the defence clicking in the second half was a good sign for the upcoming double-header and would hope those concepts follow the team up to Queensland.
“I think we’ll put those defensive things in place up there against both of these teams, so we’ll throw everything we’ve got against Townsville on Friday and try to get that win and see how we go the game after,” he said.
Dandenong faces the Townsville Fire on Friday night before heading to Logan Metro to square off against the Thunder on Sunday afternoon.
