Jamaica finally registered their first win in the 18th Centrobasket Women’s Championship at the José ‘Pepe’ Huyke Colosseum in Morovis, Puerto Rico Thursday when Shenneika Smith (17 points, four rebounds) and Sasha Dixon (11 points, 3 rebounds) engineered a 64-53 win over El Salvador in their last preliminary Group A match.

The Simone Edwards-coached Jamaica dominated the match, with El Salvador leading only once (2-3 at 8:05 in the first quarter).

Jamaica led 18-4 in the first quarter with Smith contributing nine of those points.

El Salvador fought back late during the second quarter but were outscored 21-14 as Jamaica maintained an 39-18 advantage at half time.

Angelee Latouche and Rhona McKenzie, meanwhile, were proving their worth for Jamaica who stayed ahead 46-35 at the end of the third quarter.

Latouche finished with 10 points, six rebounds and McKenzie seven points, 12 rebounds for Jamaica to finish third in Group A and were scheduled to play Trinidad & Tobago in the battle for fifth to eight place yesterday which also included Virgin Islands and El Salvador.

Jamaica’s shooting percentage was 42.6, compared to El Salvador’s 36.0, and had a total 49 rebounds with the Central Americans totalling 24 rebounds.

The El Salvadoreans showed some desperation with 17 attempts at three-pointers, making only six.

Jamaica lost to Puerto Rico and Mexico in their earlier games.

Cuba will play Mexico and hosts Puerto Rico tackle Dominican Republic in the semi-finals which were scheduled for last night.

In previous Centrobasket Champs for Women, Jamaica were runners-up in 2010 and third in 2006.