The ANZCO Tokomanawa Queens open their 2026 G.J. Gardner Homes Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa campaign at Te Rauparaha Arena on Sunday, while BNZ Northern Kāhu arrive in Porirua for their second game of the opening weekend.
Queens have had the entire preseason to prepare for their first game of the season while the Kāhu already have 40 minutes of Tauihi basketball behind them after Friday night’s 81-60 loss to the defending champion Tauranga Whai. With just Saturday to travel recover and adjust before facing the team with the best 2026 regular season record on their home court.
For the Queens, despite missing a couple of key off season recruits, Sunday provides the first look at a significantly reshaped team under returning Head Coach Tania Tupu. For the Kāhu, it is an opportunity to respond quickly after an opening-night performance that produced some encouraging individual numbers but also exposed areas requiring immediate improvement.
When: Sunday 27 September
Where: Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua
Rapid League: 2:00pm
Tauihi: 3:00pm
Watch Live: Sky Sport 3 and Sky Sport TikTok in New Zealand, ESPN+ in the United States and FIBA YouTube everywhere else internationally
Commentary: Maia Williamson and Casey Frank
Box Score Here
Buy Tickets Here
Queens have named Krystal Leger-Walker, Grace Hunter, Taylor Mikesell, Hana Lacey-Rameka and Mimi Collins as their starting five.
Hunter, Mikesell, Lacey-Rameka and Collins are available.
Aria Cowley, Ameia Williams, Alaska Rhebok and Nahala Toeleiu are available through the Rapid League group, while Victoria Ikenasio, Stella Beck and Matangiroa Flavell are also listed as questionable due to anti-doping education requirements.
The Queens will be without several significant names for their opener. Penina Davidson, Charlisse Leger-Walker, Hailey Van Lith and Jade Kirisome all unavailable.
The Kāhu will look to retain the same starting five from Friday night's opener, with Talya Brugler, Olivia Williams, Megan Mullings, Tayla Dalton and Erin Bollmann slotted in.
Kayla Manuirirangi, Emily Monaghan, Shanique Lucas, Azure Anderson, Ella Fotu and Sienna Maurice make up the bench mob while having Rapid availability.
Queens finished 2025 regular season with a 7-5 record to take the top seed in the postseason before dropping a home semi-final to the Whai.
They averaged 82.5 points per game while allowing 79.2, giving them the second-best scoring margin in Tauihi at +3.3.
They shot 44 percent from the field, led the league in steals at 8.9 per game, and committed just 12.2 turnovers per game, the fewest in the competition. Their +2.2 turnover margin was also the league’s best. Queens Tauihi 25(3)
Much of last year’s leading production will need to come from new sources.
Kristy Wallace averaged 19.5 points and 6.5 assists and was named league MVP, but is no longer with the team, while Jihyun Park and Louise Brown are also plying their trade elsewhere this season.
Davidson, last season’s All-Star Five centre is back for 2026, but unavailable for the opener.
That leaves a very different group to establish its identity.
Mikesell arrives after averaging 13.9 points for Pouākai last season, Collins brings extensive professional experience, while Lacey-Rameka enters after averaging 15.1 points and 8.3 rebounds in NBL1 West this year.
The Kāhu entered 2026 after a major rebuild following a 1-11 campaign last season.
Their opening game showed both the potential and the work still required.
The Kāhu lost 81-60 to Tauranga Whai to open the season on Friday night despite forcing 22 Whai turnovers while collecting 11 steals.
While the defensive effort was promising, getting the ball through the net proved a tougher task.
They finished the night shooting 32 percent from the field and just 14 percent from three, while the Whai converted 52 percent overall and 48 percent from beyond the arc. Kāhu 2026 Tauihi.
There were encouraging individual performances.
Erin Bollmann led the squad with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists while shooting 50 percent from the field.
Talya Brugler started strong and added 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Megan Mullings pummeled the glass to pull down a game-high 10 rebounds and collected four steals.
The closest meeting of the season came at Te Rauparaha Arena, where the Queens survived a late Kāhu challenge to win 94-90.
Kāhu were competitive throughout and used their rebounding and perimeter scoring to stay in the contest, with Abigail Curtin producing one of her best games of the season. The lead changed hands late in the fourth quarter before Penina Davidson hit a crucial three to swing momentum back to the Queens.
Kristy Wallace then delivered the decisive moment, knocking down a clutch three with nine seconds remaining to seal the win.
Top Performers
The second meeting was far more one-sided, with the Queens taking control early and never allowing Kāhu to settle.
Without Kristy Wallace, the Queens leaned heavily on their frontcourt and completely dominated the glass. They collected 16 offensive rebounds and finished with a +12 rebounding advantage.
Penina Davidson was the standout, producing a huge 21-point, 21-rebound double-double, while Louise Brown added 15 points and 13 rebounds. Stella Beck and Jihyun Park also reached double figures as four Queens starters scored at least 15 points.
For Kāhu, shooting efficiency was the major issue. Lauren Mansfield and Haliegh Reinoehl combined to shoot just 5-of-28 from the field, making it difficult for the visitors to generate enough offence to stay in touch.
Top Performers
The final regular-season meeting was more competitive than the previous encounter, but the Queens again had too much quality over four quarters.
Kāhu started strongly behind Lauren Mansfield and Tahlia Tupaea, with Mansfield hitting early threes and Tupaea attacking inside. They stayed within one during the second quarter before Wallace began to take control.
The Queens pulled away in the second half, with Wallace particularly influential late. She scored 10 of the Queens’ 20 fourth-quarter points and added four steals in the final period as Tokomanawa closed out the regular season in strong form.
Davidson again caused problems inside, while Stella Beck produced a double-double.
Top Performers
The Queens swept the season series 3-0, but the games told three different stories.
The first was a genuine thriller decided in the final seconds. The second was dominated by the Queens’ size and rebounding, particularly Davidson’s 21-point, 21-rebound performance. The third saw Kāhu compete strongly early before Wallace and the Queens’ depth took control late.
Across the three games, Wallace and Davidson were consistently the difference-makers, while Kāhu’s best moments came when their guards were able to create pace and score efficiently.
Much of the preseason attention around Queens centred on the depth and star power of their full roster.
That is not the group that will take the floor on Sunday.
The absences of Charlisse Leger-Walker, Davidson and Van Lith significantly change the equation and place more responsibility on Mikesell, Collins, Hunter and Lacey-Rameka.
Krystal Leger-Walker's experience becomes particularly important for an understrength group, and there is an obvious subplot: her first Tauihi appearance for the Queens would come against the only club she has previously played for.
Friday showed that Jo Wood’s team can create disruption on the defensive end.
Eleven steals, 15 turnovers and a near-even 38-37 rebounding count were not the numbers of a team being physically outmatched.
But the lack offensive efficiency was glaring.
The Kāhu made only 23 of 71 field-goal attempts and just three of 21 from beyond the arc.
A better shooting night can be expected, but thee Queens were the second-best defensive team in Tauihi last season and have plenty of size and length even with key players unavailable.
Bollmann’s ability to create efficiently becomes important, while Dalton and Brugler will need to help generate higher quality opportunities.
The Queens allowed just 79.2 points per game last season and forced opponents into 14.4 turnovers per game.
They also led Tauihi in steals and turnover margin. But many of the players responsible for that identity have departed.
Sunday is therefore less about whether Queens can replicate the exact 2025 team and more about whether Tupu can establish the same principles with different personnel.
Hunter, Mikesell and Lacey-Rameka provide length on the perimeter, while Collins gives Queens a 190cm presence inside.
If Beck is cleared, the reigning back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year adds the most familiar element of last season’s defence. She averaged 11.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and a league-leading 2.2 steals in 2025.
Mikesell changes colours after averaging 13.9 points per game for Pouākai last season and helping them reach the Grand Final.
Her shooting is particularly important for a Queens side missing several of its expected offensive weapons.
Bollmann, meanwhile, was a stat stuffer on Friday with 18 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists. If Bollmann can reproduce that level of efficiency, the Kāhu have a reliable offensive starting point.
Two new frontcourt pieces making their first appearances in this matchup.
Collins has played professionally in Spain, Slovakia, Mexico and Japan, averaging 7.1 points and 4.3 rebounds for Aishin Wings last season.
Brugler had 11 points and seven rebounds in her Tauihi debut on Friday but needed 15 field-goal attempts to get there.
Both teams will look to their new interior players to establish themselves around the basket.
Leger-Walker spent the previous four Tauihi seasons with Kāhu, helping claim one title, before joining Tokomanawa.
Dalton now captains Kāhu after winning last year’s championship with Whai.
Dalton finished Friday with nine points and four assists and played a team-high 36 minutes. Kāhu 2026 Tauihi
Both guards understand how to organise a team, and both will be asked to provide stability around largely rebuilt line-ups.
| Category | Tokomanawa Queens | Northern Kāhu |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 8-5 | 1-11 |
| Points per game | 82.5, 4th | 71.4, 5th |
| Points allowed | 79.2, 2nd | 86.8, 5th |
| Scoring margin | +3.3, 2nd | -15.3, 5th |
| Field-goal percentage | 44%, 2nd | 39%, 5th |
| Defensive FG% | 42%, 2nd | 45%, 5th |
| Free-throw percentage | 70%, 5th | 72%, 4th |
| Rebounding margin | +3.5 | -10.5 |
| Assists | 18.3 per game | 17.3 per game |
| Turnovers | 12.2 per game, 1st | 14.8 per game |
| Assist/turnover ratio | 1.5 | 1.2 |
| Steals | 8.9 per game, 1st | 7.7 per game |
| Blocks | 3.3 per game | 3.2 per game |
Queens’ 2025 advantage was pronounced in defence, ball security and rebounding.
Last year’s numbers now provide context for the Kāhu, rather than a direct measure of the current roster.
Sunday also brings together the 2025 Rapid League champions and a Kāhu side that has already produced the most emphatic Rapid result of the opening weekend.
Queens went 11-1 last season, leading Rapid League in both scoring at 37.75 points per game and defence at 29.42 allowed. They also led the competition in field-goal percentage and defensive field-goal percentage. Tauihi Rapid Stats 25(7)
They swept Kāhu three times, winning 40-24, 41-14 and 34-33, although the final meeting showed Kāhu could push the champions all the way. Queens Rapid 25(3)
Kāhu have already started 2026 with a statement in Rapid League.
They beat Whai 38-18 on Friday, shooting 46 percent from the field, forcing 15 turnovers and recording 11 steals. Kayla Manuirirangi led the scoring with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, while also handing out three assists. Kāhu 2026 Rapid
Queens will open with Cowley, Williams, Rhebok and Toeleiu available, with several other players awaiting eligibility clearance. Kāhu counter with the group that impressed on Friday, including Manuirirangi, Lucas, Anderson, Fotu, Monaghan and Maurice. 1. Queens PSR 27 September 2026 2. Kahu PSR 27 September 2026
That makes the Rapid game an intriguing opener in its own right: the defending champions against the first team to make an early mark in 2026.
For Queens, this is not quite the season opener that fans have been anticipating when their roster was announced.
Several headline players are unavailable, others remain subject to clearance, and a number of new combinations will be tested immediately.
That makes Sunday an early examination of their depth rather than simply their star power.
For Kāhu, the equation is different.
They already know what 2026 Tauihi basketball feels like.
Friday’s defeat exposed the cost of poor shooting against an experienced opponent, but Bollmann, Brugler and Mullings all produced encouraging individual contributions, while their defensive activity created plenty of extra possessions.
They have also had a full day away from competition to review, recover and prepare before travelling into a second difficult matchup.
Queens have freshness.
Kāhu have game experience.
Sunday afternoon at Te Rauparaha Arena will show which advantage matters more.
