The Miners came up against a powerhouse opponent which had lost just two games all season with coach David Herbert producing one of the great coaching masterpieces to see his side get the valuable points.

Yes, there were issues - the 23 turnovers for one - but it was a game designed around limiting the free-flowing opponents doing what they do best.

And it was a win born out of complete buy in from the whole group who stuck the game plan which worked.

Jade Melbourne did what she does best, top-scoring with 23 points including two huge plays in the final moments.

Kristy Rinaldi stood-up when the team needed her most. It is clear the champion Ballarat stalwart is the heart and soul of the team. A big last quarter three pointer, then calmly slotting the winning free throw in the finals seconds had the team crowding around her.

It seemed a strange move when Herbert benched Zitina Aokuso with four minutes to play, but he knew what he was doing as Rinaldi stepped up. The break was only temporary as Aokuso would finish back on court as the final whistle blew.

The other key to the win was the Brancatisano sisters. Isabella and Charlotte. The pair only combined for five points, but it was their hustle in bringing down 14 combined rebounds. countless last second hands on the ball and scrapping for every possession that pleased the crowd and the coach.

Nothing separated the two sides at any stage in the game. The biggest margin either team got out to was six points, but for the most part the Miners held sway, hitting the clutch buckets when it mattered most and moving to 8-5 on the season.

The record incredibly is the same as the men, but the women are coming with a bullet, the men are flat lining.

After the match, with beads of sweat pouring off him, Herbert was thrilled with the result.

"That's a top three team, I said the girls in the locker room that if we do that for all four quarters we could get there," he said.

"We were terrific defensively all night."

It was future superstar Melbourne who stepped-up when the game was there to be won.

"Jade said to me at the last break she wanted the ball in her hands, to be honest, I wanted the ball in her hands too," Herbert said.

"Then you had the likes of (Charlotte) Brancatisano who came in and defended the lights outs of the game all night,

"We've proven we're a team that has arrived, we've just got to get a bit better at a few things."

Herbert revealed that much of the training this week had centred around what Ringwood could do.

"We knew they were good inside on screen and so we've been working on a few different strategies to combat that," he said.

"I thought we really disrupted them early and took them out of their rhythm. The zone worked, there's a lot more to that, it's something we only started working on two weeks ago. I think it's exciting to where we can get to from here."