Raider trap: Knox Raiders players Emily Fryters and Shanae Greaves defend Bendigo's Renae Camino at Bendigo Stadium on Friday night before the lights went out in the stadium. Picture: Bendigo Advertiser
IT wasn't a game to remember but Knox Raiders women took a scrappy win from their clash with Frankston Blues at the State Basketball Centre on Saturday night.
The Raiders scored a 61-47 win but did so in unconvincing fashion with their offence struggling to create open shots and their defence failing to force turnovers and get transition points.
Raiders coach Cheryl Chambers flew in from Canberra on game day and drove straight from Melbourne Airport to the stadium to coach the match. She had spent the week coaching the Australian Gems team at a training camp.
"We haven't had much time together so we couldn't really run any offence," Chambers said.
"The defence was pretty woeful but the good thing was Rachael Quirk, who has never played minutes at point guard before, started and did a good job as did a young player in Taylor Lee who backed her up."
Chambers said her side, which is still to add WNBL championship players Kelly Wilson and Gabrielle Richards, would take a few weeks to settle into the season.
"At SEABL level sometimes you don't get all your pieces together to start the season so the team is a work in progress and we have a lot of work to do."
The Blues got within nine points in the final term before new Raiders signing Rebecca Allen (17 points) scored seven straight points to push the margin into safe territory.
Allen only played limited minutes after getting into foul trouble in the first half.
"If Bec Allen stopped fouling she would be able show what she could do," Chambers said.
"She made those shots which she can do and in the first half we ran some inside plays for her and she made those shots as well.
"If we had been better on defence we would have also got her some points in transition as well."
The Raiders' game against Bendigo on Friday night was abandoned after a power outage left the stadium without electricity for 90 minutes.
The game will have to be replayed later in the season with SEABL officials looking at their options for rescheduling.
The Raiders host arch-rivals Kilsyth Cobras at the State Basketball Centre on Saturday at 6pm.