Bendigo basketball greats Kristi Harrower and Emily McInerny will be part of Australian basketball history.
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It was announced on Wednesday at an Opals reunion in Sydney that the 2006 World Cup gold medal-winning squad will become the first team to be inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame.
Point guard Harrower and defensive specialist McInerny helped the Opals to a stunning 91-74 win over Russia in the gold medal game in Brazil in September, 2006.
They became the first Australian basketball team to win gold at an open-age World Cup.
Individually, Harrower was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017.
She fought back tears on stage on Wednesday after the announcement.
"It's a special moment to stand up here with this group,'' Harrower told a 200-strong crowd.
"It was an amazing group to be a part of. It was all about the chemistry we had and that's why we won gold in the end."
Jan Stirling, who coached the Opals to gold in 2006, said it was a fitting honour for the group.
"It was a surreal moment that's for sure, we certainly didn't go in as favourites to win,'' she said.
"The gold medal was a culmination of 50 years of effort from the Opals teams before us and our focus on persistence and resilience was key to our win.
"We spoke a lot about the legacy of the Opals and the responsibility of playing in the green and gold and everything that it stands for.
"I can't think of a more deserving Australian team to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and the fact that they are the first to do so, is, in my opinion fitting."
2006 was a huge year for Harrower and McInerny.
Three days after returning with gold from the World Cup, Harrower had her wedding in Bendigo.
Earlier in 2006, McInerny was part of the Opals squad that won the Commonwealth Games gold medal.
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