THE Albury-Wodonga Lady Bandits got a harsh reality check on Saturday night, with the Hobart Lady Chargers punishing their hosts to the tune of a 97-45 smackdown at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre.
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Hobart blitzed the Border club from deep, nailing 11 three-pointers, including four during a third quarter explosion that saw the Lady Chargers outscore Albury-Wodonga 31-7.
As expected, the Lady Chargers’ offensive attack was too deep and varied for the Lady Bandits, with Amy Kame hitting five triples on her way to a game-high 27 points.
There was plenty of support, with Klara Wischer tallying a neat double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds while Kathleen Scheer and Eliza Chilcott added 17 and 15 points respectively.
Not one Lady Bandits player could notch double digits, with guard Carly McRae top-scoring with just seven points.
Imports Kristina Baltic and Ali Bouman, along with Rachel Maenpaa and Teyla Evans, could all only notch six points apiece.
Lady Bandits coach Michael Brookens couldn’t hide his disappointment at his players’ efforts.
“I don’t think they put forth the energy and effort they did against Ballarat,” Brookens said.
“I’m very disappointed, just in their lack of fight.
“Apart from the kids coming off the bench, coming in and trying as hard as they could, I don’t think any of the starting five came to play tonight.”
At one stage early in the third quarter debacle, a disgusted Brookens substituted his entire starting five, to little avail.
Not even a 70-34 three-quarter-time deficit and nothing but pride to play for was enough incentive, Hobart executing flawlessly to win going away.
“I told them at half-time to try to get the lead down to single digits,” Brookens said.
“We weren’t executing, we didn’t have the energy and we weren’t fighting hard enough.
“Hobart was comfortable, they were doing whatever they wanted to do.
“It’s not a letdown so much as last week was a false truth.
“It’s a reality check, something has to click and they need to find a way to play together within the system.”