Yesterday's 61-46 win against Counties Manukau in Auckland meant Dunedin won pool A and set up a sudden-death playoff match against Wellington this afternoon.
By winning the pool, Dunedin avoids playing highly-fancied Christchurch, which is stacked with nine ANZ Championship players.
Dunedin needed a strong second half to see off a tough and determined Counties side after managing just a 15-14 lead after the first quarter and a 29-24 lead at the half.
A strong third quarter meant the two-time defending champion's lead ballooned out to 51-34 with a quarter to play and Dunedin never looked back.
''We're happy with that. We won the pool,'' coach Lauren Piebenga said.
''It was really tight in the first quarter, especially. They were a really physical team. We had to work really hard for every ball ... we probably pushed things a bit in the shooting circle early on.
Shooter Te Paea Selby-Rickit hit 48 of her 60 attempts, while starting goal attack Olivia Bates landed eight from 10. Replacement goal attack Kirsten Craig ''came on and played really well'', shooting five from seven.
Most of the 12-strong squad got a run in the final pool match and Piebenga was pleased with progress ahead of the playoffs.
''We are still tweaking things as we go. [Yesterday] was definitely a step up from [Monday]. Defensively, throughout the court, we applied really good pressure. It was fantastic to see.
''We also adapted well and had good options for our shooters.''
The team had taken a couple of chances to watch potential playoff opponents, but the focus was on themselves before today's crunch match against Wellington, Piebenga said.
''For us, it's just about consistency. When we put it all together, we look fantastic. We just need to put it together for a full 60 minutes.''
Today's match starts at 2.15pm.
By Robert van Royen.
