Regardless, a 60-43 win against Auckland in the national provincial competition in Auckland yesterday was of little consolation for the back-to-back champion.
While Dunedin, formerly Otago, finishes seventh with the win, there is no doubt the campaign that looked so promising a few days ago was a disappointment.
Beating equally underperforming Auckland was good, but coach Lauren Piebenga was not getting excited after her side's quest for a three-peat fell well short.
''They are a tight bunch of girls and they are disappointed with how the competition went.
''It certainly wasn't what we wanted. We are disappointed we didn't get a flow on and do what we were capable of doing. I couldn't pick one thing that stopped us from doing that, but we just didn't execute,'' she said.
Losing captain Gina Crampton with a broken finger on the cusp of the competition was a big loss, Piebenga said.
After consecutive losses to Wellington and Waitakere relegated Dunedin to yesterday's playoff, a slow start resulted in Dunedin trailing Auckland 14-12 after the first quarter.
However, Dunedin turned the game on its head with its two best quarters of the campaign, outscoring Auckland 31-14 to take a 43-28 lead with a quarter to play.
Despite tiring in the fourth quarter, Dunedin finished off Auckland and completed its first competition under its new name with a comprehensive win.
''It was good to finish with a win. It's consolation in the fact we put three good quarters together and played like we knew we could,'' Piebenga said.
''Our connections were fantastic throughout the court. Zoe Walker had a good game on defence and Stacey Peeters got through a power of work in the midcourt,'' Piebenga said.
She also singled out Shannon Francois' performance in the final game.
Despite a tough campaign, the second-year coach found a couple of positives in 17-year-old Abby Erwood and shooter Te Paea Selby-Rickit.
''Abby is a real future talent for Dunedin ... she got a lot of court time. It was also good for Te Paea to get plenty of action ahead of her upcoming role with the Steel next year.''
Christchurch, stacked with nine ANZ Championship players, beat the Yvonne Willering-coached North Harbour 61-51 to win the title.
Hamilton, last year's runner-up, finished third with a 61-47 win against Wellington.
- Robert van Royen
