Aussies sweep Sunshine Girls

BROADBEACH, Australia (CMC):

Jamaica were swept, when Australia crushed them 71-40 to win the third and final Test yesterday at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre.

The Sunshine Girls failed to temper the unrelenting Diamonds, and crashed to a deflating third straight loss in the series, following 59-38 and 69-42 defeats in the first two Tests.

The world number four Jamaicans were trailing by five from early, following a flurry of goals for the world leaders Aussies in the first half of the opening quarter.

At the other end, the visitors were not getting any easy balls into their shooters, with Laura Geitz and Mo'onia Gerrard providing strong defence for Australia.

Battled hard

Sunshine Girls wing defence Sateva Taylor battled hard against Lauren Nourse, but with the Diamonds giving options all the way down the court, there was always a path to goal for the Aussies, and they led 23-6 after the first quarter.

The avenues for Jamaica into beanpole goal shooter Romelda Aiken and goal defence Anna-Kaye Griffith continued to dry up in the second period.

Jamaican centre Nadine Bryan lifted her work rate, helping the Sunshine Girls flow down the court, but Australia maintained control, and were ahead 40-15 at half-time.

Both sides shuffled the pack in the third period, and Aiken began to get slightly better service inside the arc, with several off the ball contacts, allowing the Jamaicans to keep scoring, and stick with the Australians.

This was probably the best period for Jamaica, after they decreased the number of unforced errors, and scored the same number of goals as their opponents, but the Aussies still led 52-27 after three terms.

Final period

In the final period, the Jamaicans could not keep up the momentum they had produced in the previous quarter, after the Aussies introduced Susan Fuhrmann at goalkeeper, and Susan Pratley was moved into goal attack.

Matching Aiken for height in the arc, Fuhrmann pressured her Jamaican opponent in the air, and the Jamaican defence was no match for the wily Pratley.

The Jamaicans have little time to lick their wounds. They jet across the Trans-Tasman channel to New Zealand, where they face the world No.2 Silver Ferns in a two-Test series, with matches Wednesday in Christchurch and Saturday in Napier.

Scores:

AUSTRALIA 71 (Natalie Medhurst 24 goals from 24 attempts, Sharelle McMahon 21/25, Susan Pratley 14/14, Kate Beveridge 12/20)

JAMAICA 40 (Romelda Aiken 22/30, Anna-Kaye Griffith 17/20, Vanessa Walker 1/2)