Sunshine Girls clinch series with exciting Coventry win
COVENTRY, England (CMC) — Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls overcame a strong third quarter surge from hosts England to pull off a stunning 64-57 victory and clinch their three-match series 2-1 here Sunday night.
The visitors held an imposing eight-goal lead mid-way during the third quarter at the Ricoh Arena only to watch as England roared back to level the scores at 46, heading into the critical final stage of the contest.
However, Jamaica dug deep when it mattered most, defending well and out-scoring the Roses 18-11, to come away champions.
They were once again led by star goal shoot Jhaniele Fowler-Reid who netted 52 from 59 attempts for an 88 per cent accuracy rating.
She was voted Player-of-the-Series.
Goal shoot Jo Harten led England with 37 from 41 attempts while goal attack Kadeen Corbin supported with 20 from 23 attempts.
Jamaica opened the series with 66-49 win at London’s Copper Box Arena last week but faltered in the second game at Belle Vue in Manchester last Friday, going down 63-50.
The two results left both teams with all to play for in Sunday’s contest, and they battled fiercely from the opening whistle, before a capacity crowd of 4 000.
Fowler-Reid drew first blood for Jamaica but Harten then scored twice to put England ahead. The lead swung back and forth before the scores were locked at 5-5 but England proved the more clinical for the remainder of the quarter to take a slender 15-14 lead at the end of the first stanza.
However, the Sunshine Girls turned it on in the second quarter, levelling the scores early before opening up a six-goal led mid-way through.
And while England again finished strongly, Jamaica held a healthy 33-29 advantage at the half.
Sparks flew in a hotly contested third quarter as England looked to close the gap and Jamaica tried to stay ahead.
Eboni Beckford-Chambers was outstanding defensively for England and her efforts proved vital as Jamaica wasted an eight-goal lead before holding on for the win.