A tantalisingly close encounter saw Uganda edge out T&T 57-54 in both teams' first Group G fixture in the Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England, on Monday.
In the first-ever meeting between T&T and Uganda, the shooting firepower of both teams was evident throughout.
From the very start of the first quarter, it was clear that very little separated the two sides and much of the action throughout the 15 minutes was goal-for-goal.
The lowest shooting statistic in the quarter was 90 per cent from Uganda's Peace Proscovia (23/25), whilst the goal-attacks on both sides, T&T's Kalifa McCollin (16/16) and Uganda's Stella Oyella (26/29), fired at 100 per cent.
It was the 10-ranked Calypso Girls who eventually edged in front, with the first quarter ending 17-15 to T&T.
Quarter two saw Uganda, ranked sixth, seize early momentum and with a turnover they were able to draw things level.
With Uganda's Mary Nuba Cholock (7/7) joining McCollin and Oyella at 10 per cent shooting, the goals continued to pour in one after the other.
Uganda finally found and converted their second turnover of the quarter as the fifth minute began to tick away but an errant pass into Cholock undid their hard work and T&T were able to capitalise on the error.
Inspired by the opportunity gifted to them to draw things level, T&T took the initiative again to break the goal-for-goal rhythm, reversing the early lead Uganda had established. As the whistle blew for half time the score was 31-30 to the Calypso Girls.
As things continued to tick over goal-for-goal once more in the third quarter, a footwork foul from Cholock threatened to allow T&T to extend their lead. However, a three-second infringement triggered by strong all-court defence from the Ugandans meant they re-gathered possession.
This to-and-fro nature of proceedings stirred the She Cranes into a turnover and a steady stream of three goals in a row, with both Uganda shooters still at 100 per cent as they took the lead once more from the Calypso Girls.
But this run of goals was immediately matched and then beaten by T&T, who added one extra to take the lead back.
Responding to the momentum swing, Proscovia was brought back on for Cholock, which proved a savvy decision from coach Vincent Kiwanuka as Proscovia’s presence shifted things back in the She Cranes’ favour.
As the quarter ticked down, Uganda was able to push their lead to five goals and went into the final quarter 46-41 up.
Strong zonal defence kicked the fourth quarter into action, with the She Cranes each manning their players to force a turnover on the Calypso Girls’ centre.
But the favour was soon returned and T&T began to slowly eat into the Ugandan lead after a string of three goals were scored. An ill-timed miss from Samantha Wallace, however, stopped the Calypso Girls from being able to draw things back level and they were held at three goals adrift for the most part of the final quarter, eventually falling to a three-goal defeat.
Afterwards, T&T’s goal-shooter Samantha Wallace (38/41), said: "It was a good contest. We knew they were going to come out and give their best. Everybody wants to improve their rankings so we knew what we were in for.
"I think we did really well I’m really impressed with the girls; compared to other games, I’m really impressed with them."
Uganda captain Peace Proscovia said: "I feel overwhelmed with joy to win that game. Most importantly the confidence that the players had to go out there – especially playing a team like T&T – with very limited error rate was a hard one, we just needed to be very clinical and innovative but that’s what the team did, and I’m so proud of that."
Today, Group G has a rest day while in Group F in the afternoon session, Northern Ireland takes on four-time winners New Zealand, Australia meets Malawi and Zimbabwe plays Barbados. The morning session is reserved for play among the last four-teams, Fiji versus Singapore and Sri Lanka versus Samoa.
Tomorrow, the"Calypso Girls" are back on court against England and on Thursday meets Scotland.
Yesterday's other results
England 56 v Jamaica 48
South Africa 66 vs Scotland 38
Fiji 54 vs Samoa 55
Sri Lanka 88 vs Singapore 50
Australia 91 vs Barbados 22
Northern Ireland 43 vs Malawi 47
Zimbabwe 36 vs New Zealand 79