Silver Ferns after test series rout of Jamaica
The Silver Ferns will head to Rotorua for the third game of their series against Jamaica eyeing further improvement.
New Zealand beat Jamaica 61-38 at CET Arena in Palmerston North on Wednesday night, their second big win in the three-match Taini Jamison Trophy series after winning 72-34 in Nelson on Sunday.
Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby has been using the series to blood new talent and build combinations, and even though it hasn’t been perfect so far, she could see some things coming together.
She has one more chance to try things in the final test in Rotorua on Saturday, before the allimportant Constellation Cup against Australia, which starts next month.
The physical Jamaicans were a lot better than in Nelson, for three quarters at least, but the Silver Ferns ran away with it in the end, scoring 19 goals in the final quarter in front of a crowd of 2523.
‘‘The good thing for us is Jamaica threw a curve ball at us and changed the way they played,’’ Southby said. ‘‘They certainly played very well tonight and we came through it in the end.
‘‘Maybe not as pretty as we wanted it to look, but we’ll get there and we showed a bit of heart and a little bit of resilience too.’’
The Silver Ferns’ links on attack were not quite as sharp as in Nelson, when their midcourters were humming, but this time it was the turn of the defence to star, with goal keep Jane Watson into everything, grabbing seven rebounds.
‘‘I think defensively we created a lot of ball tonight and we put them under a lot of pressure,’’ Southby said. ‘‘And I think we’re certainly really pleased with a lot of aspects of our defensive play and on attack I think it’s just about making sure that we adapt and adjust to the different timing.’’
(Bailey Mes 23/28, Te Paea Selby-rickit 27/38, Ameliaranne Ekenasio 8/12, Maia Wilson 3/4) (Shantal Slater 23/29, Shanice Beckford 9/15, Vanessa Walker 6/8). scores: 14-9, 29-16, 42-29.
Silver Ferns 61 Jamaica 38 Quarter