Instead, Southland stole the show with lanky shooter Ashleigh Smith and Te Paea's older sister, Te Huinga Selby-Rickit, grabbing the limelight.
The pair made their impact at either end of the court to help Southland open its national championship campaign with a comfortable 50-45 win at the Edgar Centre on Saturday.
Smith (19) was named player of the match for her solid display in the shooting circle, landing 31 of her 40 attempts. Most of the shots she missed she recovered with some powerful rebounding, bumping Otago and newly-signed Steel defender Louise Thayer out of the way.
Thayer had a strong second half, and goal defence Sam Stewart had a reasonable debut. But, by and large, Otago's defensive end struggled to generate turnover ball.
Southland defenders Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit and Sarah Barnes were more effective, particularly in the first half. Brown and Te Paea showed glimpses of potential but the new combination struggled to put sustained pressure on their opponents.
Brown still possesses a great passing game but the former Silver Fern did not have the best day under the hoop, scoring 14 of her 20 attempts. And Te Huinga Reo beat her to a lot of loose ball and generally had the better of the match-up.
Te Huinga Reo, who has followed coach Robyn Broughton to Wellington and signed with the Central Pulse, is a tough defender and will be sorely missed by the Steel next season.
Southland's Wendy Frew and Dana Bond also made good contributions in the midcourt and proved too experienced for Otago's pair of Gina Crampton and Shannon Francois.
The loss is a setback for Otago's top-four aspirations, especially with much harder games against Canterbury and Auckland-Waitakere still ahead.
Otago coach Deb Tasi-Cordtz blamed a sluggish start for the loss.
"I'd like to start that game again," she said.
"Being down by four goals after the first quarter, well, that was the game really. We were competitive other than for a four- or five-minute period."
Southland scored nine unanswered goals midway through the first period to seize the momentum and never surrendered the lead.
Otago made some inroads but a five-goal run at the start of the third period saw the lead blow out to 10 goals. The home side rallied and closed the final margin, but Southland always appeared in control of the game.
Both sides put up 61 attempts but Southland's attack end appeared the more fluent.
"I thought we were pretty patchy [on attack], but when we stuck to the game plan I thought we were pretty smart," Tasi-Cordtz said.
"Our connections just weren't always there.
"We need to know when to hold on to the ball and when to let go of it.
"But we can't dwell on it, we have to learn from it because it is such a short season."
Otago's next fixture is against Wellington in Porirua on September 11.
• Southland 50
Ashleigh Smith 31 from 40, Claire Adams 19/21
• Otago 45
Te Paea Selby-Rickit 31/41, Jodi Brown 14/20
• Quarter 16-12, halftime 28-23, third quarter 39-33
