Behind 90 per cent shooting, Barbados rebounded from defeat to beat the tenth-ranked Cook Islands 60-46 when netball action continued at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi yesterday.
Veteran Lydia Bishop led the 11th ranked Barbados offence with an impressive 48 goals from 49 attempts (98 per cent shooting), while goal attack Nikita Piggott added 12 from 18.
Coach Alwyn Babb played an unchanged side which also included Sabreena Smith, Samantha Browne, Kizzy Marville, Latonya Blackman and Lisa Puckerin.
Barbados won three of the four quarters, ending the first 16-10 and the second 13-12 for the 42-36 half-time lead. Cook Islands won the third 14-13, but Barbados came back strong in the fourth, scoring 18 goals.
For the Cook Islands, Curly George scored 21 from 28, Patricia Te Huna 20 from 26 and Ngatokoroa Tuitupou five from six.
“After the first game loss, we had our debriefing session and several factors contributed to that,” Babb told NATIONSPORT yesterday.
“We went back and we were able to do some practice on the attack that gave problems. We were able to reduce the errors to 25 – which is still too many – but we were able to deliver the ball to the shooters and stick to the game plan for most of the game.”
Babb said they were assessing each opponent and picking the team to suit, which is why they played unchanged, but Piggott still was not playing to the standard they know she is capable of.
“That game was very aggressive and that is why we chose to put Lydia in the circle. Our defence is playing extremely well and they are matching up against the best players,” the coach said.
Blackman and Marville both had three interceptions and Puckerin had one.
“We are now planning for the next two games against Papua New Guinea and South Africa. We are looking to score big against Papua New Guinea and we are watching South Africa carefully.
“We believe we can win that game and we are looking to improve against the world No. 2 New Zealand in the final game. We are not sitting down on that [victory] and once we close out these two wins, we will play for fifth and sixth place,” he added.
Trinidad and Tobago, the eight-ranked team in the world, had to come from behind and held on for a 52-51 victory over Samoa who are ranked ninth.
Summarised scores
Pool B
Barbados 60 (Lydia Bishop 48/49, Nikita Piggott 12/18). Cook Islands 46 (Curly George 21/28, Patricia TeHuna 20/26, Ngatokoroa Tuitupou 4/6). Quarter scores: 16-10, 29-22, 42-36.
South Africa 60 (Anna Bootha 21/26, Sindisiwe Gumede 24/27, Maryka Holtzhausen 7/10, Christine Markgraaff 8/15). Papua New Guinea 46 (Lua Rikis 32/41, Maleta Roberts 14/21). Quarter scores: 14-10, 31-23, 47-34.
England 54 (Louisa Brownfield 13/14, Pamela Cookey 14/16, Rachel Dunn 5/6, Jo Harten 22/29). South Africa 36 (Anna Bootha 13/22, Sindisiwe Gumede 23/29). Quarter scores: 11-8, 24-17, 37-27.
New Zealand 87 (Daneka Wipiiti 14/12, Irene Van Dyk 37/39, Maria Tutaia 30/34, Grace Rasmussen 6/8). Cook Islands 24 (Curly George 17/27, Patricia Te Huna 7/10). Quarter scores: 24-8, 42-17, 67-21.
Pool A
Malawi 82 (Mwayi Kumwenda 47/53, Linda Magombo 12/15, Sindi Simtowa 6/7, Mary Waya 17/21). India 26 (Neha Bajay 4/4, Harminder Kaur 5/9, Kiranjeet Kaur 17/19). Quarter scores: 22-7, 46-13, 64-17.
Trinidad & Tobago 52 (Joelisa Cooper 26/29, Anastascia Wilson 26/30). Samoa 51 (Barbara Faasavalu 9/14, Monica Fuimaono 11/15, Sepuita Langi 31/36). Quarter scores: 11-12, 26-27, 39-37.
Jamaica 71 (Romelda Aiken 10/11, Simone Forbes 9/10, Jhaniele Fowler 47/55, Anna-Kay Griffiths 5/6). Malawi 48 (Myawi Kumwenda 31/38, Mary Waya 17/23). Quarter scores: 19-10, 40-20, 53-38.
Australia 113 (Catherine Cox 27/8, Sharelle McMahon 22/23, Natalie Medhurst 25/26, Susan Pratley 39/42). India 18 (Harminder Jaur 6/10, Kiranjeet Kaur 7/8, Prachi Tehlan 5/5). Quarter scores: 24-3, 49-9, 81-14.
