By JARROD POTTER
WNBL – Round 8
IT DID not come easily for Dandenong, but win number four was greatly savoured after vanquishing a dogged West Coast Waves 97-80 on Friday night.
The Rangers got out of the blocks slowly, but had Tegan Cunningham (12 points) to cushion any Waves’ impact as the forward was sublime in defence to pushing into double digits, showing her full-court talents.
The Waves lapped at the Rangers’ feet through the first half, as the lead went back and forth before Dandenong squeaked ahead 44-42 to weather the Western onslaught.
Cunningham’s efforts up to half time paralleled an elite end to the game by Alice Kunek – who turned around a poor first-half to finish in sublime form.
Kunek’s fortunes worked hand-in-hand with the Rangers powering ahead of the Waves as the sharpshooter nailed five-of-six from the three-point line – including three-in-a-row to start the third term – en route to 18 points in a performance coach Mark Wright described as “her best game of the year”.
It would rain threes all night as Penny Taylor (24 points) and Cappie Pondexter (16 points, 9 assists) also joined the long bombing rampage as part of a 29-20 third-term performance to break the Waves down.
Pondexter and Kathleen Macleod (8 points, 6 assists) played their roles perfectly inside the key – flicking out assist after assist to give Taylor, Kunek and Annalise Pickrel (12 points, 7 rebounds) free reign on the scoreboard.
The only downside of the clash was former Dandenong Rangers’ championship player Louella Tomlinson being helped from the court after a suspected severe ankle injury.
Traps, deflections and intensity close up to the basket were the KPIs best savoured by coach Wright, who was pleased with the Rangers- stepped-up defensive efforts to secure the victory and back-to-back wins for the first time in the 2014/15 season.
“I think they’ve bought into that (physicality in the keyway) as we don’t have a choice,” Wright said.
“If we don’t play at that level of intensity then we have no chance of winning.
“If we play like that we can get some wins and improve as we keep going… we’ve got a real chance.
“I love the way they’ve been training, I love the way they’ve put two of those games together and the way they’ve broken teams down, worn them down, and you can tell they enjoy playing like that.”
The Rangers headed up to Queensland on Sunday afternoon to face Townsville – results available on the Dandenong Journal website Monday morning.
Dandenong flies over to Perth on Friday night to face West Coast.
