Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls moved one step closer to booking a spot in the last four of the 2023 Netball World Cup in South Africa after a 61-49 win over Uganda in their first game of the second preliminary stage at the Cape Town International Convention Center on Monday.
Jamaica didn’t have things all their way in the first quarter thanks to a very solid start from the Ugandans.
Uganda scored the first two points of the game but the Sunshine Girls still led 15-12 after the first quarter.
Jamaica picked up the pace to start the second, jumping out to a quick 19-13 lead within the first three minutes of the period.
The Jamaicans stretched the lead to 10 for the first time with 8:00 left in the first half and never looked back.
Eventually, Jamaica won the second quarter 23-9 to enjoy a 38-21 lead at the half.
Despite having less possession than Uganda in the first half, Jamaica forced their opponents into 15 turnovers, eight more than them.
Offensively, Jamaica completed the first half without a missed shot.
Goal Shooter, Jhaniele Fowler, was her usual dominant self throughout the first half with 28 goals while goal attack, Shanice Beckford, had 10 goals. Beckford also had 12 assists while wing attack, Khadijah Williams, had 18 assists in the first half.
Jamaica coach, Connie Francis, made a number of changes for the second half.
Uganda fought back in the third quarter, winning it 16-11 to face a 37-49 deficit going into quarter number four.
Jamaica’s lead built up in the first half proved to be too much for the Ugandans in the end with the final score being 61-49 in favor of the Commonwealth Games silver medalists.
Romelda Aiken-George had 16 goals from 16 attempts in the second half after replacing Jhaniele Fowler.
The Jamaicans entered stage two of the preliminaries with four points and this win puts them level on points with New Zealand on six at the top of Pool G. The top two teams from Pool F and Pool G will advance to the semi-finals.
Jamaica will next play Caribbean rivals, Trinidad & Tobago, on Wednesday.