Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic have found themselves occupying foreign territory - the bottom of the transtasman competition table.
After their third straight loss in this year's ANZ Championship last night in Sydney, where they were toppled 49-47 by NSW Swifts, Magic are now the only side without a win so far this season.
The horror start to this year's competition means Magic, previously the only side to have made the semifinals each year, are in big trouble just three weeks into their 2012 campaign.
Worse still, they have one more game to play in Australia before they can come home, and their next opponents, Vixens, occupy the top of the competition table after three consecutive wins.
Magic coach Noeline Taurua has a big job ahead to find some way for her side to claw their way out of the mire and put some wins on the board and, with Vixens in excellent form, it's hard to see them emerging from their trip to Australia on the right side of the ledger.
As Magic captain Laura Langman conceded ahead of last night's match, her side are playing like a team scared to lose rather than a side hell-bent on winning.
Like Magic, Swifts went into last night's game with two losses to date and desperately needed a win to get their season on track.
With that as the backdrop, last night's game featured plenty of action and drama.
A lukewarm first quarter saw Magic a little tentative - but largely safe - on attack and needing to inject more pressure on defence and connect better through the court.
Ending that quarter down 15-13, Magic warmed to their task in the second spell, shutting down the space they'd given Swifts in the first quarter, connecting better on both attack and defence and gathering momentum as the home side found themselves under more pressure and fell off the pace.
Magic's defensive powerhouse - Casey Williams and Leana de Bruin started making some inroads after a sketchy start which forced some Swifts errors and, at the other end, goal attack Julianna Naoupu came on strong, working hard on defence and taking on more of the workload at the shooting end where goal shoot Irene van Dyk couldn't miss but wasn't getting enough ball.
Up 24-21 at half time, Magic needed to keep the momentum going in the third spell while Swifts were looking for a 60-minute game, having fallen short in their previous two matches.
The speed of play went up a couple of notches but, just when it seemed Magic were going to hold on to the advantage they'd carved out, Swifts got three goals in succession to put them back in the hunt and the teams were locked at 37-37 going into the final quarter.
For Magic, it was a frustrating final spell as Swifts turned things up, catching them on the hop and unable to regain the slight edge they had held earlier.
A dislocated finger suffered by Naoupu with about 12 minutes to go didn't help but she played on for what became a frantic, frenetic final phase of play.
With just 1:31 left on the clock and Magic down 47-46, Naoupu missed the equaliser and Swifts slotted two more goals for the win.
But the loss certainly wasn't down to just one player with some sloppy play earlier leading to turnover and Magic caught napping at crucial times.
They have six days to re-group, scheduled to play Melbourne's Vixens on Sunday afternoon.
After last night, it will be a big ask.