The Breakers struck a mighty blow for New Zealand hoops when they won the Australian national league in April.
Back in 2003, when the Auckland-based team was created, it had to ask Otago basketball for permission to use the nickname.
The Otago women's basketball team had been known as the Breakers - based on the basketball term "fast break" - since 1999, the year it won the first of two consecutive national titles.
Powered by dual internationals Belinda Colling and Donna Loffhagen, Australian forward Jennifer Gardiner and point guard Tracey Paul, the Breakers beat Taranaki 66-50 in the 1999 final.
A year later, with Colling and Loffhagen again in top form and backed by towering American Sharon Deal, the Breakers repeated with a 75-69 win over Waikato.
Co-coaches Donna Solomon and Carl Dickel played key roles in establishing the mini dynasty.
In 2001, the Breakers were controversially stripped of points for turning up late to a game and did not qualify for the finals. Then followed three rebuilding years before an appearance in the 2005 final, where Otago was beaten by Canterbury.
The Breakers name was phased out, replaced by the Otago Goldrush, and the national league went into hiatus before being reborn as the women's basketball championship.
