Jamaica took an unassailable 2-0 lead over Trinidad and Tobago with a 64-32 win in the Margaret Beckford Sunshine Series at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston on Tuesday night (October 19).

However, it was not the performance Head Coach Connie Francis was hoping for as the Calypso Girls were far more competitive than they were in their 71-22 loss to the Sunshine Girls on Saturday. Prior to Tuesday night’s game, Francis said she was hoping for an improved performance from her shooters and better defensive play from the fourth-best team in the world.

She did not get that.

Caused in part by a more intense approach from the visitors and poor shooting from the home side, Jamaica only lead 12-8 at the end of the first quarter and 24-14 at half-time as Gezelle Allison, who started scored 13 goals from 20 attempts while Shanice Beckford scored 12 from 14.

However, the Jamaicans took greater control of the game at the start of the third quarter when ace-shooter Jhaniele Fowler entered the game and scored 36 of her 38 attempts to power Jamaican on to a comprehensive victory.

With Fowler in the game, Jamaica stretched their lead to 44-22 by the end of the quarter and closed out the game with a 20-10 fourth quarter to secure the lopsided victory.

Afisha Noel led the scoring for the Trinidadians with 17 goals from 20 attempts with support from her captain Kalifa McCollin, who scored 15 goals from her 16 attempts.

Jamaica will try to sweep their Caribbean neighbours in the final game of the series Wednesday evening at the same venue. Match time is 6:00 pm, with Coach Francis hoping for a more complete performance from the Caribbean netball queens.