MELBOURNE, CMC – Jamaica Sunshine Girlz goal shooter Jhanielle Fowler logged a typically efficient performance, outscored compatriot Romelda Aiken-George, and defending champions West Coast Fever rolled to their fourth win on the bounce when they beat New South Wales Swift 78-67 in the Super Netball League on Easter Monday.
Fellow Jamaican goal shooter Shimona Nelson proved difficult to stop, and compatriot Jodi-Ann Ward was stifling in defense. They earned the Collingwood Magpies a redeeming 69-61 win against the winless Queensland Firebirds on Easter Sunday.
On the same day, the Jamaican defensive pair of Shamera Sterling and Latoya Wilson were again at their best. Still, they could not stop the visiting New South Wales Giants from taking their first win of the season, 59-54, against the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
A day earlier, Jamaican defender Kadie-Ann Dehaney helped to bring intense pressure for the Sunshine Coast Lightning, but Melbourne Vixens eased past her side 60-56 for their third successive win.
Fever lead the standings with 16 points, Vixens are second with 12, Thunderbirds are third with 10, and Lightning is fourth on eight with a superior scoring percentage ahead of fifth-placed Magpies, also on eight.
Swifts with six points, Giants on four points, and Firebirds with no issues complete the eight-team standings.
In the fifth round, the Giants host the Magpies. The T-birds face Vixens on Saturday, Firebirds meet Fever, and the Lightning play Swifts on Sunday.
Fowler, who missed only one of her 166 attempts over the first three rounds, scored 54 goals from 55 attempts, including one Super Shot, in the pivotal fourth-round match at the Ken Rosewall Arena in the Sydney Olympic Park.
She led the performances of the Jamaican netballers that play in the most recognizable netball league on the planet. The Fever defied a 33 from 37 version from Aiken-George and used a massive second-half surge to secure the win.
The Swifts came out firing and secured an early lead, and they managed to take an 18-15 lead into the first quarter after the Fever came storming back in the middle of the period and leveled scores at 9-9.
In the second term, both teams ramped up their physicality, and the scores were leveled at 35-35 at halftime, with both teams resisting the temptation to try for Super Shots in the Power 5.
The Fever had momentum in the second half, fuelled by the relentless defense. They carried a 59-51 lead into the final stanza, where they displayed their composure and experience, maintaining momentum through imaginative and patient play.
Nelson, who missed only one of her 121 attempts over the first three rounds, scored 61 from 66 after an uncharacteristically shaky start, and Ward was brilliant in defense with five intercepts, and a majestic third-quarter master class catapulted the Magpies out of an early hole and to victory at John Cain Arena in Melbourne.
“We’re pretty happy with the performance,” Ward said. “We started slowly. That wasn’t the type of netball we wanted to play. We were in the change rooms, reflecting on the first half, and just came out firing in the second half.”
The result took Collingwood to a 2-2 win-loss record and helped erase memories of last week’s 27-goal belting by the Fever.
In a tight contest at Netball South Australia Stadium, aggressive defense from Sterling and Wilson kept the T-birds in step, with their length and athleticism an obvious advantage. Still, the Giant’s desperation enabled them to hand the Thunderbirds their first defeat of the season.
An excellent sense of timing and ability to read the ball’s path from Sterling and Wilson enabled them to contest well, but a lack of care from their mid-court helped the Giants to win the ball and then capitalize on growing their lead through Super Shot conversions.
Dehaney and fellow defender Karla Pretorius of South Africa, had their hands complete with the Vixen’s goal-scoring pair of Mwai Kumwenda and Kiera Austin throughout the contest.
After the Lightning led 33-31 at halftime, the Vixens outscored their opponents 29-23 in the match’s second half when head coach Simone McKinniss moved her players around in the third quarter, and it paid rich dividends.
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