Diamonds make winning start to World Championships
The Australian Diamonds have started their 2011 World Netball Championship campaign with an 81-23 victory over Samoa at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Monday.
With Erin Bell making her Test debut and Mo'onia Gerrard celebrating her 50th appearance, the Diamonds made a positive start to their title defence as all 12 players got valuable court time in the opening match.
The Diamonds showed their versatility as coach Norma Plummer made wholesale changes throughout the match, without hiccup.
"It was great to finally get it started and get everyone on court was a huge bonus," shooter Natalie Medhurst said.
"They blocked us up pretty well at the top of the circle but it's certainly nice to have the first one out of the way. For us to come away with a win like that and mixing it up quite a bit as well, so we're certainly happy with that."
Ranked 11th in the world, Samoa struck first, taking an early but short lived lead from the opening centre pass before the Diamonds could get their hands on the ball.
Having never lost an opening match of a World Championships campaign, it didn't take long for debutant Bell and her Diamonds teammates to settle as shooters Catherine Cox and Medhurst took charge in the attacking circle, scoring nine consecutive goals to lead 23-8 at quarter time.
Tight one on one defence stifled the Samoans in attack as Laura Geitz, Julie Corletto and Gerrard created enormous pressure on their opposition counterparts who struggled to penetrate their attacking third.
The Samoans, who were playing a zone defence hoping to push the Diamonds wide, could do little when an off balanced Cox acrobatically converted her shot despite falling out of court as the Australians took a 22-goal lead into halftime.
Plummer turned to the bench at halftime, introducing Susan Fuhrmann and Sharni Layton in the defensive circle for Geitz and Corletto respectively, while Bassett took over the shooting responsibility from Cox and Pitman replaced Bell at wing attack.
Despite a change in personnel and strategies, the Diamonds picked up where they left off in the second half with Bassett having an immediate impact at goal shooter, scoring within seconds of the restart.
Giving away nearly 10 centimetres to Bassett, Samoan goal keeper Monique Vaai could do little to stop the Diamonds holding shooter who went on to record a perfect 31 goals from 31 attempts in the second half.
Leading 59-20 heading into the fourth quarter, the Diamonds continue trialling combinations with Bell joining Bassett in the circle at goal attack while Kim Green replaced captain Natalie von Bertouch at centre.
The Diamonds outscored Samoa 22-3 in the final quarter to finish comfortable winners.
"There might have been a couple of nerves for a few of the girls but they handled it so well," Medhurst said.
"Walking out in a stadium like this and we've got such fantastic Australian support here probably helps to make the girls a bit more at ease but I'm sure the nerves will be back towards the business end of the week."
With a variety of combinations trialled during the opening match, Medhurst feels the team is adjusting well.
"Caitlin (Bassett) and Cath (Cox) are completely different styles of shooters to play with so we've been working hard on our combinations and being able to adjust pretty smoothly between the two," Medhurst said.
"To have those two sorts of shooters who play completely different styles is great for us to have that flexibility and being able to mix it up."
