BOXSCORE
The opening minutes were fast and furious as both teams struggled in unfamiliar territory. Neither team could find the path to gain an advantage and the sides ended the first quarter evenly matched despite the Rangers opening up a 8 point buffer (26-18) .

Heat and humidity would be a telling factor as Coach’s were forced to sub at quick intervals to rehydrate the depleting energy of the players.

Thunder struggled to get any ascendency though, as their defence went astray in the 2nd quarter. The Dandenong trio of Jenna O’Hea (18pts, 5 rebs, 7 assts), Tegan Cunningham (18pts, 11 rebs) and Kathleen MacLeod (19pts, 2 rebs, 4 assts) rose to every challenge and lifted the spirit of their whole team who played confidently at both ends of the court. 

The Thunder offence was fractured on too many occassions by the relentless defence of the Rangers who played a disciplined first half which saw them skip ahead by 27 pts at the main break (58–31).

Encouraging signs at the start of the third quarter saw Thunder find the hoop from beyond the arc with alarming ease and accuracy on three consecutive occassions, resulting in an earlier than expected time out by Coach Wright (Dandenong).  

Thunder’s momentum was halted as a result whilst Rangers found another gear. 
Thunder struggled to find a suitable match up for the unstoppable Cunningham and they carried the momentum into the fourth and final quarter. 

The discipline and determination of Rangers was never heralded and they played flawlessly with precision passing and tremendous team work, maintaining the half time lead and finished the match 21 points ahead (102-81).