AUS - McInerny wins Nivea Player of the Week

MELBOURNE (WNBL) - Dandenong Jayco Rangers forward Emily McInerny has been named the Nivea Player of the Week for Round 11 after her brilliant defensive performance for the Rangers in their crucial 70-62 victory over local rivals Bulleen on Friday night.

The 7-time Defensive Player of the Year tallied 9 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 blocked shot and a steal in 37 minutes and was instrumental in restricting fellow defencejobs Opal Hollie Grima (who ranks 3rd in the League in points per game with 17.9 and 1st in rebounds with 10.8) to just 7 points and 7 rebounds.

The come from behind win clinched the 2006/07 Michele Timms Cup for Dandenong and importantly moved the Rangers to within one win of fourth placed Bulleen.

"Normally you look at the statistics for Player of the Week and you say ‘wow, they had a great game’, so it is a complete surprise, but it’s pretty exciting," McInerny said.

"Coming up against Hollie is always a big challenge but I was ready to take her on and I was happy with the job I did.

"The team helped me out with the strategies we had in place to help contain Hollie. She is basically the key to their success and shutting her down gave us an opportunity to win."

McInerny is averaging 35 minutes per game this season and currently leads the league in steals with 2.8 per game.

"I am improving," she said. "There have been up and down games and at the start of the season it felt a bit strange coming back from the world championship, but things have definitely settled in the past month.

"I am feeling more comfortable with the new group and I feel like I am participating more at both ends of the court and I am looking forward to the fight for the finals.

"I have high expectations of myself and I expect myself to be able to lock people down and I am very disappointed if people post good scores against me."

McInerny, 28, said she will do everything in her power to ensure the Rangers reach their fourth consecutive defencejobs WNBL finals series.

"We have just got to give everything we can and if it comes down to other results then so be it, but we need to put ourselves in the best position to make the finals," she said.

"We have the head-to-head against Bulleen now which is really important and we just have to keep playing well and winning."

The other noteworthy performances of Round 11 were:

CANBERRA: Jess Bibby (6-of-16 shooting) and Captain Kellie Abrams (5-of-10 shooting) both netted 15 points. Tall timber Tracey Beatty and Kiwi Donna Loffhagen posted 13 points and 5 rebounds and 7 points and 10 rebounds respectively.

DANDENONG: Co-captain Caitlin Ryan and guard Samantha Richards netted 15 points apiece while Jenna O’Hea and Kathleen McLeod scored 12 points each.

BULLEEN: Karen Ashby starred for the Boomers, posting 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting while Tall Fern Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe tallied 13 points and 5 rebounds.

TOWNSVILLE: US import Jennifer Crouse scored 17 points in addition to 10 rebounds while Rohanee Cox contributed 16 points and 5 rebounds and Renae Camino added 15 points and 7 rebounds.

SYDNEY UNI: Point guard Kristen Veal tallied 15 points with 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists in just 24 minutes on court. Triple Olympian Trish Fallon and Mikaela Dombkins added 13 points each and Nat Porter contributed 12 points and 8 rebounds.

ADELAIDE: Narelle Lindsay turned in her best performance of the season and narrowly missed Player of the Week honours after posting a 23 point, 5 assist and 5 steal game against the AIS. Over two games Tracey Gahan tallied 31 points and 22 rebounds, Jess Foley 27 points and 7 rebounds and Captain Sam Woosnam 21 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists.

PERTH: Over the Lynx’s two games, Kiwi international Angela Marino scored 24 points with 7 rebounds and 3 assists, Crista Hays added 20 points and 7 rebounds, and guard Melissa Marsh contributed 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

AIS: Rebecca Schatz scored 11 points and pulled in 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal against Adelaide while Katie Ebzery and Molly Lewis added 10 points and 9 points respectively.

Despite those good individual performances, it was McInerny’s defensive feat in the Rangers’ must win game against Bulleen that saw her awarded the Nivea Player of the Week for Round 11.

Basketball Australia