Jamaica lose twice

NEIVA HUILA, Colombia (CMC):

Jamaica produced the highest scorer twice, yet suffered two morale-crushing defeats in their latest matches in the FIBA Americas Women's Championship.

Vanessa Giddens followed up her strong performance in Jamaica's opener with a match-high, double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds, still Jamaica failed in their bid for an upset; and Brazil crushed them 73-50 on Monday.

Yesterday, Nicole Louden emerged from Giddens' shadow to score a game-high 24 points, along with six rebounds, only for the Jamaicans to lose down the stretch, as Paraguay claimed a 71-69 victory.

Against Brazil, Giddens brought some respectability to the Caribbean side's effort in their second match at the Alvaro Sanchez Silva Coliseum.

Louden supported with 10 points and two boards, while Simone Edwards made nine points and five rebounds, but it was still not enough to topple their South American opponents, one of the favourites to take the title.

The Jamaicans fell behind early and Brazil jumped to a 22-13 lead after the first quarter in the second match of the day.

In the second period, the Jamaicans were more competitive, but they still failed to overcome the defensive intensity of the Brazilians, who led 38-25 at half-time.

The Jamaicans continued to fall behind in the third stanza, as Brazil's Erika de Souza was the key player of the third quarter, taking advantage of the errors of their rivals by scoring 16 of her side's 18 points, leading them to a 56-34 advantage.

In the final quarter, the errors continued from the Jamaicans and Brazil continued to punish them, even though things were a little closer with the Caribbean side being outscored by their rivals by just one point.

Against Paraguay, Louden and Giddens - with 17 points and nine boards - kept the Jamaicans in step with their rivals.

Jamaica again had a rocky start, as Paraguay sprung to a 21-10 lead after the first quarter in the opening match on the fourth day of the competition.

The Jamaicans fought back in the second period, however, outpointing their opponents to cut the deficit at half-time, when the Paraguayans led 36-30.

Jamaica continued to hold Paraguay's feet to the fire on resumption, making further inroads into the lead, as the South American side led 55-51 at three-quarter time.

The Jamaicans continued to dominate their opponents, again outscoring them, but the weight of clearing the first period deficit continued to hang like a weight around their necks and they slumped to their second straight defeat. Simone Edwards added 10 points and eight boards for Jamaica.

The Jamaicans now hold a 1-2 record and have four points. They complete the group stage today when they face Canada.