Goldminers travel to Terrigal on Saturday for their semi-final matchup against the Maitland Mustangs, a side that the Bathurst squad haven’t beaten over the last two years.

Should the Goldminers win they will then face the victor of the Wagga Blaze and Newcastle Hunters in the following day’s grand final. 

Keeping up match fitness and maintaining intensity at training has been the focus for the Goldminers who have gone quite some time since a State League fixture.

Due to their second place finish on the ladder – thus avoiding the first week of finals – plus their bye in the final round, the Goldminers haven’t played a match since July 16.

“We’ve been getting 12 to 13 players at training so we’re still able to do a lot of five-against-five drills to closely mirror match play,” Goldminers coach Jo Cafe said.

“We’ve still been training hard and the girls have been playing games on Thursday nights as well.

“Everyone’s really looking forward to this weekend and we’ve got everyone fit and healthy for it.”

Mustangs got the better of the Bathurst girls at Minto earlier this season in a 57-49 win. 

Since that game the Goldminers haven’t tasted defeat, currently on an eight-game winning streak going into the semi-final.

Goldminers might not have beaten Mustangs in their previous two meetings but Cafe said her team have the element of surprise on their side.

“We lost one of our early games against them this year and it was the same last year too. But in neither of those games did we have Teagan Burke or Emily Matthews,” she said.

“We’ve only played them twice so they’ve never seen Teagan or Emily and I think that’s a big advantage for us.”

Burke currently has the second highest points-per-game tally in the competition (28.9) while Matthews has adds another vital outside shooting option for the Goldminers along with the likes of Rachel Murray and Chelsea Noon.

The Bathurst squad will need to produce their best basketball to get the better of a physical Mustangs lineup.

“It will be tough. They’ve got a very experienced team and they’re much taller than us. They’re fairly physical as well,” Cafe said.

“They go hard after the ball if they miss a shot. They’re strong on those offensive rebounds so we need to make sure that we’re boxing out because speed is our strength and we’re strong in transition.

“They like to play a bit of zone defence, probably because they aren’t as mobile a team, so they’ll want to clog up the key. We have to be moving the ball around a lot to make space for us to drive in.”

Mustangs beat Shoalhaven Tigers 89-58 last Saturday to make the semi-final while Hunters booked their spot against minor premiers Blaze thanks to a 78-56 win over the Coffs Harbour Suns.

Goldminers are aiming to go a step further than last season’s competition where the Queanbeyan Yowies knocked them out at the semi-final stage.