Professional women's basketball team, The Whai, is calling on the community to get behind them in their biggest weekend of competition yet, with two games set for the weekend of August 19-21.

The Whai take on Mainland Pouakai on August 19 and Southern Hoihou on August 21 – both games will be at the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre in Tauranga.

The first game begins 7.30pm next Friday, August 19; then Sunday August 21's game will start 3pm but get your tickets early – there's only so much room available.

The big weekend of action comes after the Whai fought hard at home last Sunday to regain their second place when they took on the Tokomanawa Queens.

The atmosphere at the QE2 was electric and the nervous energy from everyone present was almost tangible.

Pregame entertainment included rapper King Kapisi, who got the crowd vocal and moving, reminding both teams that they're in The Whai's house – and MC'd the entire game.

Jori Davis, a new import from Louisiana having landed in New Zealand three days prior, made her debut for The Whai.

Meanwhile Tiarna Clarke, a welcome return to the Whai from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, made it a full-strength side.

With the first quarter score 16-16, a half-time tally of 35-29 to the Queens, the third quarter ended with the Queens leading 46-44. Desperation from both teams culminated in a compelling watch for the audience – as the Queens managed to stretch their lead to six points with only 20 seconds left on the clock and win the game 65-59.

Whai captain Kyra Lambert is now back to the drawing board to tackle the remainder of the season.

'We just gotta move on and take the things that we did well. We turned the ball over like crazy –when you do that you're not going to win a lot of games. We just need to tighten up the things that we can control.”

Jori enjoyed her first Whai outing. 'It felt good, I'm surprised the jet lag hasn't kept me down too much.

'I'm still adjusting but we would've love to have had a win but I feel with the next 10 days we have, I'll be able to adjust with the team and prepare to help us actually go forward in the playoffs.”

Now it's the business end of the season – so make sure you get along to support The Whai on August 19 & 21 at Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre, Tauranga.

The Whai's catchphrase is: ‘You have to see it to be it'. You only get this when you've been at a game, and these last two games will be unmissable.