TORNADOES coach Rick Wyllie suspected it would not be his day when his opposite number made her most telling contribution midway through the third quarter of Saturday's SEABL grand final.

Wyllie's team had hauled back a 13-point deficit to be within touching distance of Dandenong when Rangers' playing-coach Larissa Anderson threw for the target under intense pressure.

The shot rebounded squarely off the backboard straight through the giant legs of the luckless Liz Cambage back to a disbelieving Anderson who gleefully accepted the unexpected invitation.

It was an ironic turning point for Wyllie who before the match had picked rebounds as the pivotal stat.

Philosophical throughout, he later reflected: "I guess when you're 203 centimetres it takes a long time to reach a ball between your legs."

When the game's outstanding player, Alison Downie, scored with 0.3 seconds of that quarter remaining, the writing was on the wall of the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

And it wasn't a good message for the travelling Tasmanians. Instead Cumming stood tallest in the final term, Rangers stretching out to a game-high 20-point lead before winning 85-70.

While rebounds ended up fairly even, a few stats did stand out at the end. Twelve three-pointers to seven at a higher scoring percentage hurt, especially in their morale-sapping timing.

Points from turnovers was a one-sided 22-2 in Dandenong's favour but it was the points off the bench which revealed most.

The area where Wyllie felt his team had set up its preliminary final win over Brisbane proved its undoing in the final.

While the minor premiers enjoyed 26 points off their bench, the Torns could muster only four.

All 10 Rangers players enjoyed at least 2 minutes 27 seconds of game time, while three Torns played no part and a fourth, Olivia Howard, had just 38 seconds.