The Otago Goldrush faces the daunting prospect of qualifying for the Women's Basketball Championship finals without its three best players.
The finals are in Dunedin in August and the thought of the tournament going ahead without the homeside has caused coach Brent Matehaere a few sleepless nights.
The Goldrush won the opening qualifying tournament in Palmerston North last month with the help of former Silver Fern shooters Jodi Brown and Daneka Wipiiti. American centre Casey Lockwood led all scorers with 15.6 points a game.
But the Goldrush will need to finish at least eighth at the second qualifying tournament beginning in Auckland today to secure a berth for the finals.
It will have to achieve that without Wipiiti and Brown, and Lockwood is only available for the opening section B game against the Canterbury Wildcats.
Wipiiti is in Tonga supporting her partner, Highlanders lock Joe Tuineau, who is trialling for the Tongan team for the Rugby World Cup team. Brown had to pull out at late notice because of a family bereavement, and Lockwood is heading back to the United States for a family reunion.
"I've had 12 days to try and reconcile this with myself which I haven't yet," Matehaere said.
"It's back to the drawing board, really.
"The only positive is so many players contributed from the bench last time and are capable of stepping up. So we should be OK."
Bottom line, Otago will need to finish at least eighth and might still be able to squeak into the finals with a ninth placing, Matehaere said.
The Goldrush does not have any easy pool matches with games against the Canterbury Wildcats and Harbour Breeze today and Southland Pearls and New Zealand Force Academy tomorrow.
"It will be tough this time. All the Tall Ferns are back in the mix and there is a rumour that Donna Wilkins will be fronting for Southland, which will make them stronger. Erin Rooney, the Tall Ferns point guard, is playing for Canterbury and there are two Tall Ferns coming back for North Harbour and the Academy side will be stronger as well.
"So all the teams in our pool get stronger while we get weaker. I haven't done much sleeping lately."
Grace Allen is the only addition to the Goldrush squad which competed in Palmerston North.
