It is pretty much what mothers everywhere are looking forward to, and Steel captain Jodi Brown is no exception.
It is Mother's Day, after all, and she would have enjoyed being spoilt rotten by her children, Kiana (3) and Aria (15 months). But she will be in camp with the Steel and will "hopefully" trade tea and toast in bed and a sleep-in for a win against the Northern Mystics.
"I wasn't at home on my birthday and I won't be at home on Mother's Day," Brown lamented.
"But I'm hoping I'll get something special on the day with a win."
It is a big day for Kiana, as well. She is the ball girl and her mother said she was very excited about her run-on role at the Edgar Centre tomorrow night.
The Mystics have been a bogey team for the Steel, winning five of the eight games between the sides, including three of the four games in Invercargill.
The last time the two teams met, the Mystics had a convincing 47-35 win in Invercargill.
Both teams are coming off damaging losses in Australia last week and will be determined to regain some momentum.
The Mystics have been the best-performed of the New Zealand teams this season with four wins from six games.
The Steel slipped to seventh after its 58-48 loss to the Adelaide Thunderbirds and desperately needs a win to keep in touch with the competition leaders.
"It is going to be pretty tough. If you looked at all the New Zealand teams on paper, you'd have to say they are the strongest," Brown said.
"But their form of late has been up and down and they certainly have their weaknesses; it is just whether we can exploit them.
"We've been guilty of going away from our game plan, and the Firebirds didn't do us any favours [with their win against the Mystics]. When you lose, you always come back a bit harder and with a little bit more determination, so we will have to be careful with that, as well."
The Mystics have plenty of options on defence. Anna Harrison (nee Scarlett) anchors the effort at the back and Rachel Rasmussen, Charlotte Kight, Jess Moulds and Kayla Cullen all compete for spots.
"It is both a strength and a weakness," Brown said.
"They have lots of options but they have not really settled on a line-up either. You can guarantee that Harrison will be there, but not who will be there with her."
The Steel had a good start with a surprise win against the Magic but dropped winnable games against the Central Pulse and West Coast Fever.
"We're pretty disappointed, because we feel like we should have had more wins than losses at this stage.
"I guess that just shows how hard this competition is and we need to look at this game from the point of view that a win would be great, but we also need to make sure we're improving in each game. Against the Thunderbirds, we took a step backwards.
"First priority is making sure we go forwards and second priority is getting a win."
Mystics shooter Cathrine Latu's accuracy borders on hard to believe. Remarkably, she has scored 140 goals from 143 attempts, and the game could quickly slip away from the Steel if she has the ball in her hands too often.
Her accuracy, combined with Maria Tutaia's willingness to shoot the ball from deep in the circle, is the leading threat to the Steel's prospects. Harrison is an experienced defender and leads a talented back court, and midcourter Temepara George is the master at controlling the tempo of a game.
As always, the Steel will look to Brown and fellow shooter Donna Wilkins for inspiration, and under-rated defender Demelza McCloud is also a key figure.
