By JARROD POTTER
DANDENONG’S fortress was breached in a bad way Friday night in a 63-77 upset loss to Adelaide.
After rarely letting losses happen on home court, the hosts were left scratching their heads after the Lightning surged in the bookend quarters.
Holding Dandenong to 11 in the first and a measly seven in the fourth – it was all systems go for Adelaide to take its sixth win of the season.
The first half belonged to the Lightning as the Dandenong defence fell apart under prolonged pressure.
Mikaela Dombkins (eight points) was let off the leash early, taking eight points in the first term, and she set the stage as the Lightning struck a 19-11 first term gap.
Dandenong coach Larissa Anderson went to her tried and tested failsafe, bringing in perennial star defender Al Downie in quickly to stem the bleeding.
Downie had the unenviable task of sitting in the Lightning’s post and trying to curtail the likes of Mikaela Ruef (21 points, 14 rebounds) and Kayla Standish (nine points and 10 rebounds) taking shots and rebounds at will.
The battle outside was just as difficult for Dandenong as Leilani Mitchell (17 points) and and Kelly Bowen (11 points, 10 rebounds) proved tricky from around the perimeter.
But as far as the rubber band stretched throughout the match – most of the time extending to 10 or 12 points in Adelaide’s favour – Dandenong didn’t let the match blow up.
Amelia Todhunter (eight points, five rebounds) nailed a buzzer-beating trey to bring the margin back to five at the half to give the Rangers some confidence heading into the second half.
They cashed in with a dogged 20-point third term, leaving Dandenong in good stead – shooting the lights out at 51 per cent to stay in the clash.
Annalise Pickrel (17 points, four rebounds) fought around foul trouble to bring the match back in Dandenong’s favour – hitting the three-ball, rushing to take some strong defensive rebounds before charging back up to attack the ring and Dandenong some semblance of hope heading into the last term.
But the initiative fell away after the five-minute mark of the final term – as a Tara Robinson (seven points) three spelled the start of Dandenong’s demise in the final few minutes.
Dandenong could barely muster a shot-on-target in the dying stages of the fourth as Adelaide ran away with the 14-point triumph.
Anderson was bemused at Dandenong’s inability to snare rebounds – as the side finished on one of its lowest tallies this season.
“I’m in a bit of shocked at the fact that we got absolutely flogged on the boards,” Anderson said. “That’s just purely an effort thing – credit to Adelaide they just got after it and played like they wanted it more which doesn’t make sense as I know my girls do.
“They just came in so flat and foul trouble killed us – having to rotate in different areas where we wouldn’t and a certain player would do well then she’d pick up another foul and there were foul troubles everywhere.”
“26-10 foul shots and that was the ball game – 26-47 on the rebounds and that’s a huge discrepancies that are a lot through effort.”
Dandenong continues its Australia Day long-weekend on Monday night in what could potentially become an Australia Day Eve tradition against the Melbourne Boomers – a prospect Anderson hopes can take root in years to come.
“I love it – i think it’s fantastic and every sport needs that rivalry,” Anderson said. “The Boomer and Ranger rivalry has been there as long as I’ve played and now coached – it’s always been there and for us we’ve got everything to play for on Monday.”
The Monday night clash at the State Basketball Centre starts at 7.30pm.
