The Silver Ferns will jump on the plane with a two-game lead as they head into their toughest battle against the Australian Diamonds.
The Silver Ferns pumped the Diamonds 62-50 in Christchurch on Wednesday, backing up their 56-50 victory against the world No 1 on Sunday.
It extends the Diamonds losing streak on New Zealand soil to 12 and gives the Silver Ferns a chance to wrap up the Constellation Cup in Sydney on Sunday.
The Diamonds coughed up way too many penalities — 82 to the Silver Ferns’ 50 — and had zero gains to New Zealand’s nine.
After a lacklustre third quarter where they let an 11-goal lead slip, the Silver Ferns responded brilliantly and showed why they are unbeaten in 2026.
They went on a six-goal run to open the final quarter, jumping out to a 52-44 lead as the Diamonds drew the eye of the umpires again.
It was an impressive display to win the quarter 17-8.
Australia made four changes to their side from Sunday’s loss, including incumbent shooter Sophie Garbin and Kate Moloney returned from having eight stitches in her finger, replacing Jamie-Lee Price — sidelined with a calf niggle — at wing defence.
The Silver Ferns battled to punch through the midcourt bringing the ball down, but they never looked panicked, always prepared to wait for an opening to come.
When in doubt they let the ball go into Grace Nweke, who made any bad pass look like a dime.
Moloney did a mountain of work bringing the ball down, allowing Georgie Horjus to pop through the middle and set herself nicely at the top of the circle.
But the Silver Ferns worked through their teething issues to lead 17-14 at the break.
Kelly Jackson built into the game off the back of a stand out first test, and picked up a big gain to push the Silver Ferns out 22-16 to open the second quarter.
The Diamonds had better flow on attack and Garbin and Kiera Austin’s connection from the Melbourne Vixens was prevalent.
But they struggled to pick up ball defensively to eat into the deficit, as the Silver Ferns put the pressure on every pass.
Maddy Gordon — who was outstanding all game — went flying cross court, Karin Burger snatched a rebound and the Silver Ferns held a 33-26 lead at halftime.
Gordon shifted into wing attack, Kate Heffernan to centre and Mila Reuelu-Buchanan was injected at wing defence to start the second half.
Burger pushed Garbin on to the base, tipped the ball back in court to Jackson, who dished it back to Burger — and that helped the Silver Ferns stamp an 11-goal lead.
The Silver Ferns defenders rattled the usually stable Diamonds attack line, who opted to re-set on the circle edge rather than going to post.
Then the momentum changed. The Diamonds chipped away, capitalised on the errors and closed the gap to three.
Their defensive effort lifted, winning the quarter 16-12, as the Silver Ferns became disjointed, but the home side held on 45-42 at the break.
Constellation Cup
The scores
Silver Ferns 62
Grace Nweke 49/52, Georgia Heffernan 8/10, Te Paea Selby-Rickit 4/4, Amelia Walmsley 1/1
Australia 50
Sophie Garbin 23/26, Kiera Austin 20/26, Donnell Wallam 7/9
Quarter scores: Silver Ferns 17-14, 33-26, 45-42.