T&T professional netballers Samantha Wallace and Kalifa McCollin had mixed results in their respective opening matches in the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) in Australia, over the weekend.
National goal-shooter Wallace shot a perfect game to lead the New South Wales (NSW) Swifts to a thrilling 69-66 extra-time win over the Queensland Firebirds at Brisbane's Nissan Arena, on Sunday, while McCollin's Collingwood Magpies in their opener fell to a 67-56 defeat to the Sunshine Coast Lightning at the Melbourne's John Cain Arena, the previous day.
Wallace shot an unblemished 49 goals as her side held off the spirited Firebirds in the first instalment of extra time after the league this year introduced the bonus period to settle drawn regular-season matches.
Gretel Bueta shot a pair of two Suncorp Super Shots in the fourth term to momentarily give her team a lead in the dying minutes. She finished with 13 points at 100 per cent and her goal circle partner Jamaican Romelda Aiken shot 39 points in a reunion of the partnership that steered the team to titles in 2015 and 2016.
Swifts led 18-13 after the first period and 35-30 at the half. But the Firebirds made a strong reply in the second half to tie the scores at 64 after the fourth period. NSW then outscored Queensland 5-2 in the extra time to wrap up the win.
The Swifts will travel to Western Australia to face the West Coast Fever in their next match on Saturday.
Fellow national goal-attack/goal-shooter McCollin made her SSN debut with a late Super Shot (two goals are counted instead of one) to close the second period, cutting her team's deficit to 30-33 at the half after trailing 16-17 in the first quarter. McCollin's teammate goal-shooter Shimona Nelson of Jamaica stepped up in the third quarter after the Lightning skipped ahead by 11 goals (54-46).
But with the Magpies down by five, Steph Wood broke Collingwood's resistance with two Super Shots to close the term with a 54-46 lead before combining with Koenen to build an unassailable double-digit lead early in the final quarter and remained ahead to take the 11-goal victory.
The Magpies will return to the court also on Saturday against the Giants, who won their opening fixture versus Adelaide Thunderbirds, 66-52.