By JARROD POTTER
IT WAS scrappy… but Dandenong will take it.
This wasn’t stylish basketball by any stretch, but slogging it out in the trenches proved enough for Dandenong to clinch a 90-84 win over Adelaide on Friday night.
Defensively it was a pack-brawl at times as Adelaide clogged the key with its tall timber – Lauren Hodges (28 points), Azania Stewart and Chalysa Shegog – leaving Dandenong to scrap it out for precious rebounds.
A battle between Australian Opals Olympic team mates Jenna O’Hea and Jenny Screen proved fascinating as neither gave an inch up-and-down the court.
Dandenong broke the game open in the fourth quarter on the back of an Alice Kunek three-pointer, followed by an exceptional assist to Kayla Pedersen in the key to push Dandenong out to 83-78 with 3.30 remaining.
A pair of technical fouls on Adelaide took the match from their grasp and with it, their final’s aspirations.
O’Hea (19 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists), Natalie Novosel (14 points) impressed at both ends with some blistering runs to the basket while Pedersen (10 points, 7 rebounds) and Brigitte Ardossi (12 points) deserve credit for taking on a gamut of Lightning talls.
The starring Ranger however was Alice Kunek – who slugged it out defensively before making her shots stick at the other end. Shooting 10-12 from the field and 3/3 three-pointers, Kunek’s 27 points proved the difference.
The fightback was important for Dandenong coach Mark Wright, with his side making amends for the 64-84 loss suffered at the hands of Adelaide earlier this year.
“They’re really important factors going forward that we know we can come from behind,” Wright said.
“That’s how they jumped us in Adelaide – completely different today and we fought it out and that’s a proven ingredient for the success we’re aiming to get.”
Dandenong travels to Perth on Friday to face the West Coast Waves before Sunday’s clash against Canberra in Alison Downie’s 300th WNBL match.
