By JARROD POTTER
AN on-court showdown was a fitting way to end a high-calibre WNBL home-and-away season as Dandenong fell 77-80 in overtime to minor premiers Townsville.
Dandenong mustered its energy and put up a strong showing despite being beset with problems from the get-go.
Having to back up from a 17-point loss to Adelaide in regional South Australia on Friday night, without star point guard Kathleen Macleod and severely mismatched for height under the ring – the Rangers clawed their way back into the match bit by bit before taking the lead in the second quarter and holding it until the end of regulation.
The Dandenong defence had to outmuscle Townsville’s two towers- Cayla Francis (20 points, nine rebounds) and Suzy Batkovic (19 points, 12 rebounds)- but to their credit the outsized Rangers were never outmatched.
Annalise Pickrel (10 points) and Lauren Scherf (four points) were given the unenviable task of manning the Fire’s tallest and the duo performed ably in the challenge before getting fouled out.
Penny Taylor (20 points, nine rebounds, five assists), Alice Kunek (13 points, nine rebounds) and Tegan Cunningham (six points) were the next Rangers up to the mark to defend the power-duo and to their credit, Cunningham and Kunek chopped out on their individual targets while Taylor was constantly creating traffic in the keyway to stop the onslaught.
Taylor would keep it going on offence as she flew to her 11th 20-or-more game of the season and push Dandenong at one stage out to a six-point lead, as the Rangers kept the Fire off the scoreboard in the second term.
Perennial performer Cappie Pondexter (18 points, nine rebounds) also held up her end of the bargain at both ends of the court.
The defence locked down through the middle quarter, but Townsville could never be discounted as the visitors chipped away at the Rangers’ lead.
Despite leading most of the match, in the end it was a former Ranger to scorch Dandenong at the death – as Steph Cumming (10 points) found her way to the free throw line to hit three points and level the ledger at 71-apiece heading into overtime.
Francis hit a crucial three and followed up with a lay-up to push the margin out to five and from there the Rangers could not recover as overtime elapsed.
“I thought we did great – we found our mojo a little bit, we’re still not shooting the ball well from the three-point line, but we got a lot of open looks and that’s all you can ask for,” Wright said.
“Tough weekend for both teams – going to overtime made it that little bit tougher.
“I think we haven’t played well for a couple of games and have played much, much better today (Sunday) – I thought our defence was so much better than what it’s been – our intensity and aggression.
“All that was there, so I have nothing but kudos for my team – and I think that will be great for us because that was a finals-like atmosphere going into overtime and we just ran out of size and energy in the end.”
There’s no time to wallow and wonder about what could have been on Sunday as Dandenong’s semi-final against Sydney Uni on Saturday afternoon advances rapidly.
“Aren’t they just gutsy and great,” Wright said about Sydney Uni’s 82-80 win over Townsville on Saturday night.
“To come up with a win when they absolutely had to and it looks like the results mean it will be a tough, fought out game, which we all love.
“I’ve got nothing but admiration for them – their backs were to the wall and they came up with an incredible win.”
Wright confirmed star point guard Kathleen Macleod’s rehabilitation was on course and she’d suit up to play some crucial minutes in the semi-final.
Dandenong faces Sydney Uni at 3pm on Saturday at home.
