Desert Jewels captain Anna Kasper said they used the disappointment of failing to reach the gold medal match to claim third place at the Pacific Netball Series in Brisbane, Australia, on Saturday.
Namibia beat Samoa 54-36 to win the bronze medal clash, showing little ill-effects from their demoralising 66-57 defeat to Fiji the day before.
The Jewels led from start to finish, winning the first quarter 16-9, the second 12-9, then 16-9 in the penultimate set before closing out the match 10-9 as Namibia avenged their opening day loss to the Samoans.
A beaming Kasper said while gold was the aim, managing to get on the podium still represents a successful tour down under.
Namibia finished the week-long tournament with three wins and as many losses.
“It means a lot. Thank you to our supporters and to our coaches, and thank you to my teammates that we carried each other through the game,” Kasper said.
The near-faultless performance was in stark contrast to the Fiji encounter on Friday, when Namibia failed to hold a eight-point advantage after an enthralling second quarter to lose the match.
“It was a physical game. We said we’ll go back to our drawing board and we’re gonna fight again until the last minute. And that’s what we did and won this game,” said Kasper of the team’s determination to right their wrongs.
Head coach Julene Meyer was pleased with how her side bounced back to get on the podium.
“We’re obviously very happy. A great performance all around from the team on the attacking side. Excellent stats in mid-court and great contributions, and on our defence side,” Meyer said.
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