Connie Francis, head coach of Jamaica’s senior netball team, says she is delighted with the performances from the Sunshine Girls as they have been nothing but brilliant at the ongoing Americas Netball World Cup qualifiers.

The hosts romped to an emphatic 85-30 victory over St Lucia at the National Indoor Sports Centre on Thursday.

Gezelle Allison led the scoring for the Sunshine Girls with 56 goals, while Kelsey Jonas and Amanda Pinkney netted 22 and seven, respectively.

For the St Lucian team, Shem Maxwell scored 22 goals, while Roxanne Synder added seven.

“I am pleased with the Girls’ performances so far, I mean, they have set their targets and they are accomplishing a lot. You know, it’s a young team coming together with one veteran player and with the leadership role from Jhaniele [Fowler] to the younger players [they are playing] with a lot of energy and they are enjoying themselves, which is important. The future is bright for these girls,” Francis said.

It was easy pickings for the Sunshine Girl as they sparkled in every department, dominating from start to finish. The Jamaicans raced to a 24-6 lead at the end of the first quarter before adding a further 19 goals to finish the half with an impressive 43-14 advantage over the St Lucians.

With the Sunshine Girls dictating proceedings across the court, the St Lucian lacked fluency in attack and could not stem the tide in defence. Jamaica cruised to the end of the third quarter, leading 68-20 before seeing out a comfortable win.

—Ruddy Allen