TWENTY-SEVEN points, 11 rebounds. To say former WNBL player Katie O'Keefe dazzled in her Big V return as a Warrnambool Mermaid would almost be an understatement.
The veteran was instrumental as the Lee Primmer-coached side notched up a 16-point road triumph against Melbourne University in Saturday's season-opener.
Primmer said O'Keefe's output was immense in the 66 to 50 victory.
"She was nothing short of pretty good," Primmer quipped.
Warrnambool conceded 20 points in the first quarter but adjustments meant the youth-filled side was able to find its feet. It let in just another 30 points for the remainder of the game.
Primmer said the defensive end from quarter time onwards was a major positive.
"We were down by eight but I wasn't sort of surprised in that regard because we had a new roster. We had about four new players that've never really played together," he said.
"We had a practice game but I'd say quite a few of the players who started in my starting five hadn't played together a lot - or any time really - so I just was probably mindful in three or four weeks time we'll be gelling a bit better than we did.
"To their credit we let Melbourne score 20 points in a quarter and if that was going to be the case across the four they were going to get 80 points. So we had to do a job defensively and we spoke about that pre-game."
(Katie O'Keefe) was nothing short of pretty good.
- Lee Primmer
Primmer said his side started to find its groove offensively as well.
He expected team cohesion to be the Mermaids' biggest upside going forward in 2022.
"We'll get another starter in Amy Wormald back for us and there are a lot of positives for us to look forward to," Primmer said.
"At the end of the day we've played well to get that win and offensively I think we know what we want to do.
"We're really rapt with it after quarter time."
Primmer urged basketball fans to turn out for the side's first home game next weekend at the Arc.
"It's our sponsor appreciation day so it'd be great to see a big crowd out there," he said.
Warrnambool Seahawks (48), meanwhile, suffered a 24-point defeat to Melbourne University (72).
Sam Byron was the top scorer with 12 points while youngster Wil Rantall added six points and five rebounds from the bench.
MORE TO COME
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Nick Ansell
Nick Ansell is a sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard.
Nick Ansell is a sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard.
