Bendigo Braves are back on the road this weekend for a clash with the Knox Raiders on Saturday.
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Braves women head into the round sitting on top of the ladder, with Knox trailing further down the ranks in seventh position.
Despite sitting well above, Braves women's coach Mark Alabakov said the Raiders were strong shooters from the three-point line.
"Their pace of play and three-point shooting from both Kara Tessari and Klara Wischer has been at a very high level for the bulk of the season so far," he said.
"They also have two players in the way of Alicia Frolling and Kiera Rowe who are physically very tough players on the court.
"And similarly to us they've been able to keep the bulk of their roster together for most of the season which is going to make it even more of a challenge for us to get over them."
Added motivation for the Braves women to defeat the Raiders comes after they finished above Bendigo on the ladder during the 2021 COVID-19 cancelled season.
"There's a bit of a chip on our shoulder as after the ladder was adjusted when last year's season was called off we were originally finished but then Knox were shifted to the top.
"We considered ourselves as one of the best in the competition and unfortunately didn't even get the chance to play them - so in that regard we are very excited for this match."
The men's clash with Knox will also be a challenging match as both sides are coming into the round on the back of wins last week.
Braves men are in the midst of a six-game winning streak and will no doubt look to keep in going when they meet on Saturday night.
The round 11 matches at the State Basketball Centre coincides with the NBL1 South's First Nations Round.
To mark the importance of NAIDOC Week, the NBL's First Persons and Multicultural Liaison, Janelle McQueen, who is a proud Wiradjuri woman from central New South Wales created an artwork to celebrate Indigenous culture within basketball.
McQueen said the art of Wiradjuri people was based on their traditional heritage as tree carvers.
"A lot of the art work we do is more line work, not so much dot [art]," she said.
"This piece represents all of the eight States and Territories. It shows the beginning of the league itself, the present, and moving into the future.
"This piece covers all the states and territories and with their own unique stories and elements to them."
McQueen said the centre of the artwork represented the links between the different states and territories.
"The centre includes a male and a female, the object between them is a shield which represents the ceremony of coming together," she said.
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