Jamaica’s national women’s basketball team withstood the pressure in the final minutes against the Dominican Republic to take the victory, 51-45, and the gold medal during the Caribbean Basketball Confederation Championship at the Multi-purpose Sports Complex on Saturday.
Jamaica’s top scorers during the final were Sasha Dixon and Shenneika Smith, who both finished with 14 points each.
By advancing to the final, the two teams automatically qualified for the Centrobasket Championship in Mexico next month.
However, the teams would be playing for bragging rights and hardware to see who would take home the gold.
Shenneika Smith opened the scoring with three straight points for Jamaica, but Marlem Caceres quickly responded for the Dominican Republic with three points to tie the game.
Both teams had to work hard on offense, as each side demonstrated strong defense.
Throughout the final, neither team could take a substantial lead and the first quarter ended with Jamaica leading, 14-12.
In the second quarter, Genesis Evangelista, of the Dominican Republic, drove to the basket to tie the game at 14.
However, Jamaica answered with a 4-0 run to take the lead, 18-14.
The Dominican Republic tied the game at 18, and after several layups on steals the first half ended in a tie, 22-22.
The top scorer of the first half was Jennifer George, of Jamaica, with eight points.
In the third quarter, a midrange basket from Ms. Mitchell and a three pointer from Shenneika Smith gave Jamaica a five-point lead, 31-26.
From the free throw line, Danilsa Esther Andujar hit her two shots and a basket by Wanda Gomez cut the Jamaican lead to one point, 31-30.
Ms. Smith made her free throw to give the Jamaica a two-point lead, 32-30.
Ms. Dixon scored on a drive to the basket to extend Jamaica’s lead, 34-30.
By the end of the third quarter, Simone Edwards led all scorers.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Melissa Santos started the scoring from the baseline.
But Ms. Dixon answered for Jamaica with a three pointer.
Yohanna Morton became the go to player for the Dominican Republic after scoring and tieing the game, 43-43, with three minutes and 20 seconds remaining.
Ms. George responded from the paint to give Jamaica the lead, 45-43.
As Jamaica was on top, Ms. Smith went to the free throw line to go one for two and extend her team’s lead, 49-45.
The Dominican Republic struggled to score and had to foul Ms. Mitchell, who scored her two free throws and gave Jamaica a six-point lead, 51-45, with nine seconds to play.
Ms. Mitchell stole the ball, passed it ahead to Ms. Smith who dribbled until time expired to win the gold medal.
The tournament featured eight teams from around the region, including Guyana, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Bahamas, Barbados, USVI, who took third, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
The VI did not have a team competing in the tournament.
{fcomment}