Dandenong dominate young AIS combination in Hobart.

The Dandenong Jayco Rangers totally overpowered the AIS youngsters in their Women’s National Basketball League clash at the Aurora Sports Stadium in Hobart with an almost all the way 80-33 victory.

The AIS opened the scoring but it was to be the only time the side led as Dandenong gradually took a stranglehold on the game as the first quarter ground to a close.

The game was a dour basket for basket affair for most of the first quarter but with two minutes to play before the first break, Dandenong went on a nine-nil scoring spree which allowed the side to head into the second term with a 16-9 advantage.

The second quarter followed a similar pattern with a basket for basket period followed by some strong play from the Rangers punctuated by a big three-point basket from Caitlin Ryan which saw the side grind its way out to a 19 point advantage at half-time.

Dandenong absolutely dominated the third term, holding the AIS scoreless for the first seven minutes while it added 21 points of its own. The Rangers eventually scored 27 points for the quarter while holding the AIS to a paltry two points.

AIS coach Phil Brown fired his charges up at the final break and the side scrambled to score the first six points of the final term before Dandenong found its way to the basket again.

The 650-strong crowd finally found something to cheer about when Launceston’s Catherine Guest hit the court for Dandenong half-way through the quarter and the Rangers regained their momentum to narrowly win the last quarter 17-14.

He said he was impressed with the defensive pressure applied by his side in the second half. “The AIS lost its way for a while” he said, “and we were good enough to capitalise on that”.

AIS coach Phil Brown said that he was encouraged by his side’s improved performance since the last time it met Dandenong. “Defensively, we were greatly improved” he said. “We fed the ball inside better in the second half but we had far too many turnovers and didn’t finish off.”

The Rangers had a big advantage on the boards 45-32 but it was in shooting percentage that they held an even bigger advantage. The AIS hit 13 of 52 field goal attempts at a poor 25% conversion rate while Dandenong hit a much more respectable 35 of 78 for 45%.

 Ashley Lindsay scored a game-high 17 points for the Rangers and backed that up with 14 rebounds and five blocked shots. She was well supported by Caitlin Ryan with 16 points and Stephanie Cumming with 14.

The only AIS player to post a double figure score was Tess Madgen with 13.

DANDENONG RANGERS 80 (Ashley Lindsey 17, Caitlin Ryan 16, Stephanie Cumming 14, Casey Nash 10)

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF SPORT 33 (Tess Madgen 13, Tessa Lavey 4, Sara Blicavs 4, Olivia Thompson 4) at Aurora Sports Stadium, Hobart; Crowd: 650.

Photo: Courtesy Richard Mitchell