T&T's senior women's basketballers failed to qualify for this month's Centrobasket Championship by one spot after finishing fourth at the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championship for Women, on Saturday.
Coach Leary Sandy's team suffered a 65-52 defeat by the US Virgin Islands (USVI) in clash between the two losing semifinalists on the closing day of the competition, which ultimately saw the USVI join the two finalists, runner-up Dominican Republic and champion team Jamaica, at the Centrobasket. Jamaica, which defeated T&T in the third group stage match secured the title with a 51-45 win over the Dominican Republic in the final. Captain and guard Rhonda John Davis was again amonst T&T's top players in the closing fixture, securing 14 points and eight rebounds, while centre Alicia Liverpool was also in the mix with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Jowan Ortega, who played the most minutes on the court, sealed nine points. Although T&T opened strongly with a 17-15 advantage at the end of the first period, the USVI dominated proceedings in the seccessive two periods outscoring T&T 19-12 and 15-7. T&T improved considerably in the final period but was matched by the USVI as each team shared 16 points. The end result saw USVI win by seven points.
T&T opened its hunt for the title last Tuesday with a 57-43 win over St Vincent and the Grenadines. A day later, T&T made light work of Guyana to win the second fixture 96-33. Then, on Thursday, T&T was brought back down to reality following its uninspired 49-35 loss to the eventual champion, Jamaica which withstood the pressure in the final minutes, took the victory, 51 -45, and the Gold-Medal of the 2014 CBC Championship for Women. Dominican Republic had to settle for the Silver Medal. The top scorers of the game were Sasha Dixon and Shenneika Smith of Jamaica, both with 14 points.
Bahamas defeated the team of Barbados, 102-54, and St Vincent and the Grenadines defeated the team of Guyana, 69 -40, therefore Bahamas finished the CBC Championship in fifth place, Barbados in sixth, St Vincent and the Grenadines finished in seventh and Guyana in eight place.
T&T's best finish in recent years in the women's competition was a runner-up spot in the 2009 edition, where the team lost 91-77 to Cuba in the final.
The men's team, which won the CBC title on three occasions, sat out of this year's competition.
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