Mid-North Whai Women

Morgan Yaeger stood at the free-throw line in the 2024 Grand Final with the Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa title on the line, after Tauranga Whai beat the Tokomanawa Queens 90–71. It was the payoff for a club that had been chasing that exact result since its first season.

The franchise entered the inaugural Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa competition in 2022 under the name Mid-North Whai, finishing 5–7 and falling in the semi-finals to Northern Kāhu. A year later the same opponent beat them again, this time in the final itself, 98–72. In 2024 the club dropped the Mid-North name in favour of Tauranga Whai, tying its identity to the city and to the men's National Basketball League franchise sharing it. The season did not start well — one win from the first six games — but the team closed with five wins in six, got past Northern Kāhu in the semi-finals, and finally got over the line in the final.

They defended the title in 2025, beating Mainland Pouākai 93–66. The name Whai — Māori for stingray, and also for the act of chasing — has carried a double meaning as the club went from pursuer to champion.

Home games are played at the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre, a 2,580-seat venue in Tauranga, where the squad wears turquoise and navy blue. Northern Kāhu remains the team every result against them is measured by.

Among the Tall Ferns who have worn the club's colours, Sharne Robati's name is the one attached to it longest, part of the group that turned a team with a losing record in its debut season into back-to-back champions within three years.