Sharpshooter Daneka Wipiiti turned to familiar faces in the crowd when it appeared her inconsistent form would help the Force tumble to another inglorious defeat in their national league semifinal against the Waikato Magic.
Those faces and an inspiring rev-up from coach Yvonne Willering combined to completely change the complexion of
the game with Wipiiti returning for a majestic final quarter to turn the game on its ear for the Force.
The towering figure of Wipiiti, who has endured a rocky last few months after withdrawing from two sets of New Zealand trials, broke away from the retiring figure sometimes portrayed with a stunning contribution in the nick of time against the Magic to help secure the Force's place in tonight's final against the Sting in Invercargill.
With their star shooter looking fragile, near to tears and on the brink of self-destruction after a moderate return of just 18 goals from 32 attempts during the first three quarters, the match was in the balance.
Willering made a gutsy call to leave Wipiiti on for the final quarter, spending the entire third quarter break in animated discussion with her young charge.
"She (Willering) just said to me, 'do I want to be out there, did I have 15 minutes of heart for the team left', and I said nobody was going to drag me off the court as a loser," Wipiiti, 20, said. "So I had to go out there and pretty much show them what I was made of."
For a team keen to shed their under-achiever tag of recent seasons, it was the pivotal decision of the game. The 1.94m sharp shooter refound her touch to slot 14 from 18 attempts as the Force pulled away to win 50-42.
The Taranaki export was reluctant to say the pep talk had done its trick but something fired her up. "I think it was more my grandparents and my family in the crowd that really inspired me. They had come from far away to come and watch me play. They had so much faith in me. I just had to find the faith in myself."
- NZPA
