Grace Allan is the big unit in a small team.
The 1.85m centre is tasked with guarding the hoop, nailing her trademark mid-range jumpers and helping the Otago Gold Rush extend its impressive record at the Women's Basketball Championships, which get under way in Christchurch on Friday.
The province won the title in 2011 and was runner-up in 2009 and 2010.
The Gold Rush had to settle for third in 2012 and fourth last year but Otago is one of the perennial heavyweights.
This season the team is down on size.
In the past, its talented guard line has had players such as Casey Lockwood, Kali Bennett, Patrice McKenzie and even former Silver Fern star Daneka Wipiiti to fall back on when the outside shots were not on.
Allan is the new go-to player on the inside and the 22-year-old University of Otago master's student is looking forward to the challenge.
It is her fourth year in the team but her first as the team's first-choice centre.
''It is quite exciting. It will give me more of an opportunity to show what I can do rather than just getting up from the bench and doing a few minutes,'' Allan said.
''I'm quite aggressive and I like to use my body to get into position and I like the base-line jumper.
''It is my role to help create some play with the new sets we have and stop the big girls in the other teams from scoring.''
The Gold Rush has an experienced guard line that includes 2008 Olympian Suzie Bates, Tall Fern Samara Gallaher and Otago captain Janet Main.
The team will try to play a fast-paced game, which means Allan is going to have to ''get up and down'', as they say.
''I'm not the fastest but I can keep up,'' she said.
''We've been practising quite a lot of post moves ... but most plays are set around our guards and using what we have.''
Forwards Natalie Smith and Kelly Groot will shoulder some work on the inside but Allan shapes as the main target under the post, coach Todd Marshall said.
''She also has nice mid-range shot, so we're hoping to be able to use that,'' Marshall said.
''Obviously, there is a lot of experience in our guard line ... so I've got no problems in the guard line-up. We're not necessarily going to run and gun, but we are definitely going to be looking to utilise that guard line.''
The Gold Rush will open its campaign against Waitakere on Friday and Allan, whose brother Tom Allan played a handful of games for the Otago Nuggets in 2012, will match up against Tall Fern Penina Davidson.
It shapes as a tough initiation for the rookie starting centre.
Gallaher, who plays for the Hume City Broncos in Melbourne, is returning from Australia especially for the tournament.
Women's Basketball Championship
Tournament 1, Christchurch May 2-4
Otago Gold Rush games
May 2: v Waitakere. May 3: v Junior Tall Ferns, v Nelson Sparks. May 4: v Canterbury Wildcats.
Squad
Anita Snowdon, Danielle Calnan, Grace Allan, Grace Love, Jacqueline Lodge, Janet Main, Kelly Groot, Natalie Smith, Samara Gallaher, Soraya Umaga-Jensen, Suzie Bates, Zoe Richards.
