By ROY WARD
IN many ways Dandenong Rangers had a dream year in 2012.
They went from the brink of play-off elimination to go on and win the WNBL championship, they sent Jenna O’Hea and Kath Macleod (both Australia) along with Krista Phillips (Canada) to the London Olympics and then re-signed the core of their title team and have an 11-3 record heading into the WNBL Christmas break.
But despite winning a championship and having his side in second place on the league ladder, Rangers coach Mark Wright was still focused on his side’s three losses, all to Bendigo, in the first half of the WNBL season.
“If someone said you could be 11-3 after 14 games you would take it,” Wright said.
“But it just so happens we lost all three of those games to Bendigo — hopefully we can keep improving from here.
“We don’t fear Bendigo, we are just disappointed we haven’t beaten them a couple of times. Hopefully we get to play them in the finals.”
The Rangers bid an on-court farewell to 2012 with a 102-79 win over a worn-down Sydney University Flames at Dandenong Stadium on Saturday night.
O’Hea scorched the visitors with a season-high 35 points along with six rebounds and six assists while Macleod added 22 points, five rebounds and six assists.
Wright said O’Hea shot the ball brilliantly while several other Rangers including Steph Cumming (12 points) and Carley Mijovic (11) took the chance to find some form after a few lean weeks.
“This was why I kept Jenna and Kath on court a bit longer because I know what it’s like when you are stroking it, the last thing you want is the coach to drag you off, especially when you are shooting as well as Jenna was,” he said.
Flames import April Sykes was also impressive, finding plenty of baskets despite being in foul trouble for much of the night to finish with 24 points in 27 minutes before fouling out.
Wright said his side had shown some good form in the second half after a sloppy first half.
“We have plenty of room for improvement,” he said. “If we can slowly but surely edge that [bad] stuff away and start to play our style of basketball over 35 minutes and not 25 minutes then we will be harder and harder to beat.”
The Rangers have a bye this week and then the Christmas break. They return to WNBL play on January 4 with a road game against Canberra Capitals followed by another away clash against Sydney University on January 5.
