Jamaica’s senior female basketball team scored their first win at the Centrobasket 2014, when they defeated El Salvador 60-36 in Monterrey, Mexico, yesterday.

The Jamaicans needing to win to stay in contention, came up big in the fourth quarter outscoring their opponents 15-1 to claim victory and keep their FIBA Americas dreams alive.

The Simone Edwards-coached outfit went on the attack from tip-off and quickly established a 9-0 advantage. They failed to keep their performance up as Monica Escobar shot eight points to bring El Salvador back in the game with the first quarter ending at 15-14.

The level of play dwindled considerably in the second quarter, which ended 29-22 in favour of the Central Americans

Jamaica looked a better outfit after the break, based on the offensive of Shereesha Richards, who was key in producing the points, which helped her team to a 42-36 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Jamaica’s devastating fourth quarter run had El Salvador stunned as they could not find a way to counter plays used by coach Edwards, which allowed her team victory.

However, the Jamaicans who defeated the US Virgin Islands to take the Caribbean Basketball Confederation Championship recently, went down 46-56 to the same opponents in their first game on Tuesday. They are currently in third spot in Group B, with one game remaining.

The top four teams will qualify for next year’s FIBA Americas.