Bay of Plenty have a semifinal spot in their grasp, although the threat of relegation still lingers ominously in the background heading into finals week of the national championships.
Bay Gold strung together their best performance of the competition in their first year back in division one with an unexpectedly easy 60-43 drubbing of Auckland Waitakere at the weekend and sit third equal in the standings with Southland, a point ahead of Otago. Auckland Waitakere are still without a win in the competition and are favourites for the promotion-relegation playoff this week.
Te Aroha Keenan's side will meet Southland in their remaining round robin game in Porirua tomorrow before play-offs begin on Thursday.
But even if Auckland beat the Southerners they will still finish at the bottom of the first division after the round robin phase and will play off for fifth and sixth place.
Ebullient Bay of Plenty coach Mary-Jane Araroa wants to ensure it's not her side battling Auckland Waitakere for bottom spot.
"If there's a big game to be played this week it's our one against Otago - we've got to win it and I'm focusing the girls on that game."
Bay's lopsided win over Auckland Waitakere was unexpected, especially after copping two pre-season thrashings from them, but there were two other surprise results in the first division, with the young Otago side holding title favourites Canterbury to a 58-all draw while Southland pulled off a 45-40 upset win over the previously unbeaten Wellington side.
"I thought 'what the heck, those bloody teams down south'," Araroa said.
"If results had gone the way everyone was expecting we would have had some breathing space but our destiny is in own own hands."
A Bay win over Otago and a Southland win against Auckland Waitakere would bring goal differential into the equation, with Bay's looking healthy. Araroa wants third spot and a rematch against Wellington,
"They're beatable, but it's just great right now to be talking about top four rather than where everyone expected us to be which is fighting to avoid relegation, and that's what first division is about - learning quickly from previous games.
"Evidently that's what happened with Southland and Otago."
Auckland are struggling without star shooter Cathrine Latu and defenders Kayla Cullen and Sulu Tone-Fitzpatrick, who withdrew from their provincial side after receiving a Silver Ferns call-up, but Araroa is full of praise for her Bay players, "who played like a team."
Former Magic shooter Halana Leith was given the centre bib and was the missing piece of the midcourt puzzle, having failed to impress her coach in the opening round loss to Canterbury.
"Halana gave us the point of difference we'd been looking for in midcourt. She's been fighting to get back on since that Canterbury game, reassuring me she's learned, and I've been telling her to be patient because her opportunity would come. She put it out there for us with superb feeding and court balance and made the flow of ball a lot smoother through the court and around the shooting circle."
Shooters Arahi Wall and Tanya Lund profited, with Wall bagging 43 goals from 45 attempts and Lund's 81 per cent accuracy her best of the season.
"I'd put pressure on both of them to work collaboratively and for each other more, especially after that Wellington game where they played in isolation.
"It's a hard call but I believe they lost us that game."
Weekend results:
First division:
Southland 45 (Ashleigh Smith 27/35, Olivia Bates 18/23) Wellington 40 (Jamilah Gupwell 18/25, Alicia Colledge 7/8, Darcel Daniels 8/10, Jezrae Te Runa-Morehu 7/9.
Bay of Plenty 60 (Tanya Lund 17/21, Arahi Wall 43/45) Auckland Waitakere 43 (Tera Maria Amani 11/14, Bailey Mes 21/27, Kendra Falefitu 11/15).
Canterbury 58 Otago 58.
Points: Canterbury 14, Wellington 13, Bay of Plenty 8, Southland 8, Otago 7, Auckland Waitakere 0.
Second division:
Tasman 55 (Courtney Clarke 17/21, Moana Forbes 11/13, Chelsea Brooks 16/27, Kimberly Gibson 11/11) Eastern 31 (Margaret Goldsmith 3/3, Millie Ironside 19/22, Kama Duncan 6/13, Timara Wereta 3/3.
Waikato 48 (Alix Stevens 17/24, Rebecca Jury 15/19, Jessie Waitapu 16/20) Counties Manukau 40 (Danielle Steffany 9/14, Caitlin Riedstra 24/29, Marcia Bennett 7/9).