A month after its most recent game, the Otago Gold Rush is set to get its season back up and running.
The side will play the Capital Swish and Taranaki Thunder in Lower Hutt and New Plymouth respectively on Friday and Saturday.
It will look to build on the four wins it has notched in its Women's Basketball Championship campaign.
Three of those came at the five-game tournament it played in Auckland in early-May.
Since then it had seen a lack of game time, but had been training well and working on its offensive sets.
The side's two losses came in games in which it had held leads it let slip.
While the last game, in particular, was disappointing, coach Todd Marshall is reasonably happy with where the team was at.
''I suppose taking away from that, it's about getting through those patches where you're struggling quicker.
''It's all about creating runs in basketball and they do swing to and fro from team to team.
''It's about, when things aren't going your way, getting that situation under control so you can try to create some momentum.
''We didn't do that very well in that last game we played and that was why the scoring dried up.
''So, hopefully, the things we've been doing since that tournament will help us at being better at getting through those patches.''
Being aggressive would be key, especially against the Capital Swish, which had a 4-1 record and was a very physical team.
Taranaki was a side that played well as a team and had a presence inside with experienced big Jess Tuki.
It also had a 4-1 record.
Marshall acknowledged both would be tough games, but hoped what the Gold Rush had been working on could help limit the damage through its bad patches.
''[We have been] just really going through our offensive sets and getting more comfortable.
''And just [working on] spacing the floor really well, don't rush things and just be really positive and aggressive when you're running your offensive sets.
''Don't just run them at 100 miles per hour, be smarter.''
The team welcomes twins Brittany and Zoe Richards, who missed the first games while they finished their college season in the United States.
Experienced campaigner Janet Main will meet the team in Wellington, having relocated to Whangarei earlier this year.
Everyone was available and Marshall was pleased with the depth of his squad.
He said everyone offered something, which meant the team could play at a high intensity confident there were capable players to keep replacing them when they got tired.
