ALBURY-Wodonga Lady Bandits star Rachel Maenpaa says the Border club’s winless start to the season has been frustrating but she expects fortunes to improve.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Lady Bandits sit second-last on percentage in the SEABL’s South Conference and will head to Carina tomorrow to take on East Conference cellar-dwellers Brisbane.
Maenpaa said the Border outfit needed to show the heart and effort it did in a close loss to Ballarat two weeks ago if it was to have any chance of breaking through for a win.
The athletic forward admitted she was extremely frustrated at the team’s start to the season but said no one was throwing in the towel.
“We fought well against Ballarat and sort of ran out of gas in the fourth quarter,” Maenpaa said.
“I think if have the intensity we had for the first three quarters in that game, we can definitely come away with a win.
“It’s definitely been frustrating but it’s one of those situations where you can either give up or just keep on trying.
“It’s not always easy to keep trying when you’re losing so many games but I think everyone is still trying to pull it together, which is good.”
Averaging 17.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, Maenpaa acknowledged there were still chemistry issues to be sorted out in such a new group.
But the Wisconsin native said there were areas in which the team had improved and that players’ efforts — the heavy defeat to Canberra aside — couldn’t be called into question.
“Yes and no, there’s still some things we knew we had to fix at the beginning of the year that we haven’t fixed,” she said.
“There have been games we’ve been starting to gel, it’s just a matter of getting everyone into it at the same time.
“It’s been frustrating but no one is giving up.
“I’m always the kind of person who thinks they can do everything and anything but after the first couple of games I figured out how challenging this really could be.
“What I’ve taken to heart is that everyone is really trying.”
In something of an Australian homecoming, Maenpaa heads back to Brisbane this weekend, a city she is most familiar with after, having played in the Queensland Basketball League in the past three years.
“Looking forward to it, we’ll have a few people cheering for us at the game,” Maenpaa said.
