By ROY WARD
THERE is no substitute for size and the Dandenong Rangers women got a living, breathing example of it in their loss to Knox Raiders at the State Basketball Centre in the South East Australian Basketball League on Saturday night.
The Rangers struggled to maintain their offence against the highly rated Raiders and couldn’t find a match-up to slow down the Raiders’ inside duo of Gabrielle Richards (22 points, 12 rebounds) and Shanae Greaves (15 points) as the home side won 65-51.
The Rangers’ offence also failed to keep up with the Raiders in the second half.
“I thought we came out and executed quite aggressively in the first quarter,” Rangers coach Paul Flynn said. “But in the second quarter Knox made adjustments and we flattened out. You can’t afford to do that against a quality side like Knox.
“I don’t think it’s an age thing — it’s execution and, tonight, more of a lack of size.
“Richards is a quality player who’s hard to guard at the best of times. I thought we did a hell of a job pressuring Kelly Wilson up the floor, but at the end of the day Richards was just too much for us inside.”
Flynn said forward Faith Probst was playing despite battling a bad bout of flu in the past week.
Probst (nine points) and Bridget Deery (eight points) were the best two scorers.
Flynn also handed more minutes to his younger players and said he would continue to do so as long as they made their case to get on court. “We’ll play the players who are giving us effort. If the young girls give us effort they will get a crack.”
Above all, the Rangers want to improve their defence before more matches against leading sides. “We need to fix our communication defensively,” Flynn said.
The Rangers ended the weekend on a high with a 77-54 win over Canberra Capitals Academy at Dandenong Stadium yesterday.
Amelia Todhunter top-scored with 25 points.
The Rangers host Launceston Tornadoes at Dandenong Stadium this Saturday at 5.30pm.
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