CAPE TOWN, South Africa, CMC – Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, predictably, were the only two of the three Caribbean teams that won their second group matches in the Netball World Cup on Saturday in South Africa.
The World No. 4 Jamaicans brushed aside World No. 9 Wales 75-40 to claim their second win in Group C, and World No. 11 T&T defied gutsy World No. 28 Singapore 49-36 for their first win, but World No. 14 Barbados were handed their second defeat when Scotland beat them 53-44.
As the Jamaicans are known, the Sunshine Girlz led 23-11 after a first quarter in which Wales had rallied from an early 6-1 deficit.
Jamaica extended their lead to 44-23 at half-time, and they were ahead 58-29 after replacing their starting attacking duo of captain Jhanielle Fowler and Shanice Beckford for Romelda Aiken-George and Rebekah Robinson for the second half of the contest.
Fowler, the starting goal shooter, ended with 39 goals from 41 attempts, and Beckford, the starting goal attack, made five of her six attempts.
Established goal shooter Aiken-George finished with 19 from 22, and Robinson, the reserve goal attack for this match, added 12 from 14.
As T&T is known, the Calypso Girls used a solid final quarter performance to shake off Singapore after the first three quarters were close.
T&T led 13-10 after the first quarter, but Singapore outscored them in the second period to close the gap to 21-19 at half-time.
The Caribbean team still could not put enough distance between themselves and their opponents in the third quarter and held a 34-30 lead entering the final stanza.
Tiana Dillon was introduced for starting goal attack Joelisa Cooper, which appeared to work wonders for the Girls.
With Afeisha Noel, they gave T&T the impetus for a 15-goal final quarter that broke the match open and handed their side victory.
Noel ended 38 from 44, Cooper netted only three from four, and Dillon added eight from nine.
As the Barbadians are known, the Bajan Gems kept things close throughout the first half of the match, trailing 11-8 after the first quarter but outdoing the Scots to draw level at 23-23 at half-time.
The Gems failed to contain their opponents in the third quarter after the Scots switched up with Niamh McCall and Emma Barrie forming the attacking duo inside the scoring arc.
Barbados trailed 38-33 at three-quarter time, and they were again outscored in the final quarter when their durability was again tested.
Latonia Blackman scored 20 from 22 for the Gems, and Kadeen Corbin added 24 from 27.
On Sunday: Jamaica complete their Group C schedule against South Africa (Noon East Caribbean Time), T&T round out their Group D matches against Uganda (10 a.m. EC Time), and Barbados hope for their first win in their final Group B match against Malawi (5 a.m. EC Time).
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