Jamaica’s national senior netballers have underlined their status as one of the teams to beat at the upcoming Commonwealth Games after powering to a 59-53 win over tournament host New Zealand in the final at the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland to take the Taini Jamison Trophy.
They were led by star goal-shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Reid who, had a dominant display, scoring a game high 51 goals from 56 attempts at a conversion rate of 91 percent.
Goal-attack Shanice Beckford also supported with 8 goals from 12 shots for the Jamaicans who led 13-9 at the end of the first quarter, 28-23 at half-time and 44-39 going into the 4th and final period.
The result saw the Jamaicans, who rested Queensland Firebirds star Romelda Aiken, notching back-to-back wins over New Zealand in the space of 3 days after beating the Silver Ferns just twice in the previous 53 meetings.
Meanwhile, in the playoff game for third place, Malawi defeated Fiji 78-46.
The Sunshine Girls now turn their attention to the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia where they have been drawn in Pool A alongside Australia, Barbados, Fiji, South Africa, and Northern Ireland.
They open their campaign against Fiji on April 5.