Coach Louise Brown said the thrilling 18-point turnaround, which led to a 51-50 win over Melbourne University Black Angels, came in response to a first half that didn’t quite deliver on the team’s aims.

“Our first half probably wasn’t a great half – it was not really the way we wanted to play,” she said.

“After half-time, we came out and we got the things done that we needed to. I gave the girls a bit of a rev-up at half-time and the way they responded to that was great.”

The Mermaids stepped up their defensive pressure in the second half. After conceding 33 points in the first half, they let through just 17 points after the main break.

Amy Wormald was impressive in the Mermaids’ return and shot 20 points and had 11 rebounds, while Brown was the next highest scorer with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, Xavier Johnson-Blount starred in the division one men’s Warrnambool Seahawks’ first game since their grand final win last season.

Coach Matt Alexander said the 87-77 victory over the Black Angels was encouraging, given his team hadn’t played any pre-season or practice matches.

Johnson-Blount had 18 rebounds and 38 points, while Alex Gynes “dominated” in the last quarter with 14 points to guide his team to victory.