The Silver Ferns are cautious of a wounded Australian side, after their dominant 56-48 Constellation Cup win in the opening test at Auckland, but coach Dame Noeline Taurua has challenged her side to maintain that standard for game two.
Fabulous and ferocious, the Silver Ferns shot out of the blocks to stun their trans-Tasman rivals.
"Starts are something we've spoken about for years," said captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio. "It feels like years, so it was really cool to get that start."
Eleven straight points helped the Ferns race out to a 20-9 lead to end the first quarter, as they dominated on defence, while their pace up and down the court stunned the Diamonds.
"I think the ball got down to the circle through a Whitney [Souness] to a Peta [Toeava] to a Grace [Nweke] in three seconds," Dame Noeline said. "I was looking thinking, 'Oh my gosh, that's our world record'.
"The start was sublime.
The Diamonds, though, know they have much more to offer.
"There was certainly elements in our game that weren't our typical behaviours out on court," said coach Stacey Marinkovich. "We can certainly rectify that."
Dame Noeline will take that as their warning. A dip in the third quarter almost saw Australia come back and although pleased with their resilience, Taurua knows their rivals will be stronger in game two on Sunday.
"I think our next 'but' will be can we do that again? That will be the challenge.
"We've had a really good game, good start, good benchmark. Can we do it again?"
The challenge has been laid down, with a classic Constellation Cup showdown three days away.
Join us at 7pm Sunday for live updates of the second Silver Ferns v Australia Constellation Cup clash
