By ROY WARD
DANDENONG Rangers women blew out the cobwebs in the first half, then blew past Kilsyth Cobras in their South East Australian Basketball League clash on Saturday night.
The Rangers led by just two points at half time but dominated the second half to take a 78-63 win.
Rangers coach Larissa Anderson said her side had endured a horrible week at training which showed during the first half.
“We had a lot of niggling injuries during the week and couldn’t get much training done,” Anderson said. “So I was nervous about this game and while we can always score, we gave up too many points in the first half, so at the break we talked about what was working on defence, then stuck with it in the second half.”
The Rangers also kept their edge despite an unusual lack of self-discipline from experienced starters Steph Cumming and Hope Terdich, who both earned technical fouls during the game.
Cumming led the Rangers with 18 points while Clare Papavs and Aimie Clydesdale each added 13.
The Rangers are set to lose Cumming for the next five weeks due to an Emerging Opals international tour.
Anderson praised the play of Clydesdale this season as she has played big minutes for the Rangers.
“She has stepped up and it lets us play her at point guard and play Amelia Todhunter at shooting guard,” Anderson said. “It has made a difference to be able to play those two together and make use of Amelia’s shooting skills.”
The Rangers women will play a special school holidays game against Frankston Blues on Thursday at Dandenong Stadium at 6.30pm.
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