Despite the first-up victory in their series opener over Aotearoa Men, Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua insists her side have to improve.
With the Constellation Cup postponed due to COVID-19, the Silver Ferns are lining up to face Aotearoa Men three times over as many days in Wellington, for their final scheduled matches before next year's Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
But with some of their key players missing, the Ferns overcame a slow start on Sunday, defeating Aotearoa Men 58-47 in game one, giving Dame Noeline's side two chances to wrap up the series.
Even in victory, Dame Noeline insists her side must improve, if they're to mount a credible challenge at the Commonwealth Games, after finishing out of the medals at Gold Coast 2018, under coach Janine Southby.
"I think there're areas we know that we can improve on," Dame Noeline says. "I think it is good to get the win, but we know that it's about ourselves and the execution, the strategy, but also our preparation going into [the] Commonwealth Games.
"So [it's] good to get out there, but also some clear patterns I think that we need to properly address, and try and work on."
But that window for improvement is small - 24 hours to be exact - with both sides meeting again on Monday.
The tight turnaround is welcomed by the Ferns, replicating the conditions they'll face in tournaments like the Commonwealth Games and forcing them to learn on the fly.
"With us in our environment, it's a lot of repetition of doing exactly the same thing.
"We'll go back once again and look at the video, talk through with individuals, see what we possibly can do, but this is probably the scenario that we work on when we go into a Commonwealth Games or a World [Cup], when we go back-to-back-to-back.
"If anything, it's really good for us to experience this stuff, so that we get into our routines, so that we can review and get ourselves ready for the next day."
Despite the emphasis on improvement, Dame Noeline took time to recognise the quality among her ranks.
Fresh from her debut against England Roses last month, Grace Nweke, 19, produced her best performance in the black dress, shooting 39 from 44 attempts, as the Ferns' leading scorer on the night.
Captain Gina Crampton was also a welcome returnee, after missing the end of the England series with an adductor injury, with the Ferns slipping to a 2-1 loss in her absence.
"Grace had a great game out there," says Taurua. "[She] was really stable and very strong underneath the men.
"Gigi [Crampton] played a really good game too. She's been off last time in regards to having a wee bit of a strain.
"Her introduction back out on court provided us [with] the leadership. There were times that we did do some really good things.
"The last maybe eight minutes, there was some beautiful execution, but sometimes it takes a long time, so we've got to be prepared to do the grind at the beginning.
"And sometimes it does open when it does, I thought that was really pleasing."
Join Newshub for live updates of the Silver Ferns v Aotearoa Men from 7pm Monday.
