Barbados were beaten 74-42 by England early yesterday morning at the World Netball Championships in Singapore.
And they have to rely on today’s game against Malawi to determine whether they will advance to the quarter-finals.
A disastrous first quarter (25-6) in which England took the early momentum, nullified all of the good work Barbados did over the next three quarters to get back into the game.
Within the first five minutes, Barbados were trailing 9-1 as turnovers and bad passing plagued them. England jumped to 15-4, then 20-4 as everything seemed to go their way in the first period.
Changes at the end of the quarter worked wonders for Barbados. Nikita Piggott replaced Laurel Browne at goal attack and Latonia Blackman went from wing attack to goal defence, replaced by Sabrina Browne.
She and her sister Samantha, as well as shooter Lydia Bishop stood out for Barbados.
Goals were hard to come by as both teams scored two each in the first five minutes. Barbados settled down and did well to draw the quarter 11-11, down 36-17 at half-time.
The same combination gave Barbados another good run in the third (52-30) despite the lead being stretched.
England also made changes in the defensive circle and found a fresh rhythm, rushing to a 66-36 lead.
They outscored Barbados 22-12 in the final period, to take the match and the automatic berth in the quarter-finals.
“I just wanted a good game against England knowing they are the No. 3 country. We know we are making errors which we are cleaning up game by game.
“We hope by the Malawi game we are making better decisions in the passing and tighten up on the attack,” coach Alwyn Babb said.
“The mid-court and circle defence have improved in both games, but we still have to put a full court press on the ball.”
Malawi defeated Malaysia 66-35 to set up the clash, while Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica have both advanced to the round of eight.
Summarized scores
Zone D
England 74 (Jo Harten 22/24, Pamela Cookey 8/9, Louisa Brownfield 17/18, Rachel Dunn 27/32). Barbados 42 (Laurel Browne 0/1, Nikita Piggott 19/21, Lydia Bishop 23/33). Quarter scores: 25-6, 36-17, 52-30.
Malawi 66 Malaysia 35
Zone A
Samoa 57 Sri Lanka 53
Australia 75 Northern Ireland 33
Zone B
Trinidad & Tobago 58 Fiji 40
New Zealand 91 Wales 21
Zone C
Jamaica 74 Botswana 23
South Africa 70 Singapore 33.
