THE New Zealand Silver Ferns showed why they are the team to beat with a convincing performance against Jamaica 71-45. The Sunshine Girls simply had no answers for the Ferns who moved the ball with pace and precision, really exploiting their opposition through the midcourt.

New Zealand dominated the first quarter with both Maia Wilson and Ameliaranne Ekenasio doing a wealth of damage under the post only missing a combined two goals. The two were in perfect harmony rotating through the circle with ease and using all the tricks in the book to have an impact on the scoreboard. The work out the front from wing attack Gina Crampton was impressive slicing through the defence. Crampton used her experience and high netball IQ to weave around the court and hit the circle edge with intent racking up four goal assists in the opening quarter. For Jamaica, Jhaniele Fowler was a dominant force once again with the tall shooter commanding the ball and capitalising nailing 10 goals from 11 attempts. But it was the lack of scoreboard presence from Shanice Beckford that really halted the Sunshine Girls ability to have an influence or dictate the game.

The second quarter followed a similar vein but Jamaica upped the ante only out scored by three goals.  The increased defensive pressure through the mid court with Shadian Hemmings coking on at wing defence made a real difference when it came to the speed of the ball down the court. Hemmings was not the only change with Sterling pushed out to goal defence and Kadie-Ann Dehaney pulling on the goal keeper bib. The trio worked tirelessly to shut down the Ferns attacking forays using their read of the play and three foot marking to cause a ruckus. Despite an increased presence by the Sunshine Girls, the Ferns continued their merry way unfazed by the changes and maintaining the same line up.

The half time break proved to be handy for the Ferns who went on a scoring spree in the third quarter piling on 19 goals to Jamaica’s nine. Fresh legs helped to run the Sunshine Girls off their feet with Te Paea Selby-Rickit and Whitney Souness doing the damage in the third. In hope to get back within reach of the Ferns, Shannika Johnson made her way onto the court in goal keeper but appeared to be no match for Wilson who had well and truly settled into her scoring rhythm. Wilson continued her range shooting 12 goals straight while defensively New Zealand took it up a notch led by Phoenix Karaka. The goal defence showed her speed and agility picking off passes and interrupting the flow of Jamaica who simply could not enter the attacking third with ease. Despite not registering a whole lot on the stats sheet the work Jane Watson did off the ball was impressive, working in overdrive to confuse the space and use her feet to consistently get around the body of Fowler. Jamaica really laboured down the court with centre, Latanya Wilson unable to feed into the circle meaning wing attack Nicole Dixon had to lift the load to deliver into the goalers. On the other hand, Shannon Saunders put out an impressive display running hard both ways and using her skill to deliver well-weighted passes into the circle notching up nine feeds and seven goal assists.

By the fourth quarter, New Zealand all but had the win under their belt thanks to a dominate third quarter forcing Jamaica into a chase position. But they did not rest on their laurels scoring their highest quarter score for the game with 20 goals keeping their opposition to 14 goals. New Zealand showcased more of their depth with Kimiora Poi pulling on the centre bib and not skipping a beat with the speedster getting her hand in everything. Poi highlighted both her attacking and defensive abilities managing four deflections, two pickups and four goal assists. Watson’s departure allowed Fowler more freedom with the goal shooter adding 14 goals to the total and while Gezelle Allison had no scoreboard impact she provided another feeding option but it was little too late for Jamaica.

Ill-discipline ultimately cost Jamaica the game with Sterling giving away a whopping 26 penalties, more than the entire Ferns team across four quarters. Wilson proved too strong under the post only missing three of her 45 attempts at 93 per cent accuracy, Ekenasio was deadly too nailing 18 goals at 82 per cent, while Selby-Rickit also impressed, piling on 11 goals from 13 attempts. Fowler was the shining light for Jamaica rock solid under the post with 38 goals from 40 attempts.