KINGSTON – Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls played to a dramatic 44-44 tie with Barbados in the opening match of their three-Test netball series at the National Arena last night.
This was the first international match for British-born head coach Jermaine Allison-McCracken, who has been at the helm since March.
The opening quarter was evenly contested as both teams traded goals at both ends of the court. However, the Sunshine Girls ended the period with a narrow 12-11 lead.
Newcomer Shimona Nelson, playing as goal shooter, netted eight goals for the Sunshine Girls in the period.
Goal attack Hasana Williams, who was also making her senior team debut for the Sunshine Girls, netted four goals in the first stanza for the local girls.
The Bajan Gems came out firing on all cylinders in the second period as they outscored the Sunshine Girls 15-10 to take a 26-22 lead at half time.
In fact, during the quarter, Barbados led by as many as seven goals as they forced the Sunshine Girls into a number of turnovers.
Nelson netted all ten goals for the Sunshine Girls in the quarter.
The Sunshine Girls fought very hard in the third as they stepped up their defence which saw them outscoring Barbados 12-9, to trail 35-34 going into the fourth quarter. Nelson, who is a member of the National Under-21 team, netted 11 of the Sunshine Girls’ 12 goals in the period.
Overall, Nelson scored 31 from 39 attempts and Hasana Williams 13 from 15 attempts.
For the Bajans, Latonia Blackman scored 32 from 33 and Sheniqua Thomas 12 from 13 attempts. (Jamaica Gleaner/NB)
