The end of the Bendigo Braves' extraordinary NBL1 women's winning streak has done little to dampen the spirits of coach Mark Alabakov.
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After 33-straight wins the Braves coughed up a 14-point lead at the final change to lose to the Sandringham Sabres 94-88.
The Braves (5-1) slipped to fifth on the ladder ahead of a tough weekend double against Waverley Falcons (away) and Mt Gambier Pioneers (home).
"It's just a narrative,'' Alabakov said of the Braves' winning streak.
"The way you get to that is being process driven or worrying about things qualitatively more than anything.
"I wouldn't say it's a relief (to have the streak broken), I can't speak for the players, but my message to them after the game was that if we were putting pressure on ourselves about being perfect, now we don't have to worry about perfect and we just have to worry about being really good.
"We know that our really good is highly competitive.
"The only frustration was that we were in a winning position (against Sandringham) and that fell by the wayside. The streak is the streak - we know qualitatively that if we're on song we can be really hard to beat."
The Braves defeated the Falcons by 25 in week two, but that counts for little on Saturday night.
Classy point guard Bec Cole will play for Waverley this time around, while the Braves will be without star duo Amy Atwell (WNBA trial in Phoenix) and Ally Wilson (in Japan for 3x3 international tournament).
Sunday afternoon's game at Red Energy Arena pits the Braves against the undefeated Pioneers.
With Atwell and Wilson sidelined, the Braves face a tough task to inflict the Pioneers' first loss.
"The Pioneers will be the third championship contender in a row we've played,'' Alabakov said.
"You can be a victim of player unavailability or you can back who you've got.
"That's what we've always done in my time here and we've had some rousing wins with, on paper, less than our best side on court."
The Braves men also play the Falcons and Pioneers in a crucial double-header.
The 15th placed Braves (3-4) need at least a split against the Falcons (4-4) and Pioneers (4-2) to stay in touch with the top eight.
Sunday's women's game tips-off at 1.30pm, while the men's match follows at 3.30pm.
