National Women’s Basketball Team off to a rough start in Suriname

The 12-member team, comprising mostly high school aged players, that travelled to neighbouring Suriname for the Caribbean Basketball Championships (CBC) suffered two tough losses in their first two games this past week.
Playing at the Anthony Nesty Sports Hall in Paramaribo, Suriname, the Guyanese just could not find their footing against the much stronger Barbadian team, which quickly got ahead of the local ladies with an 18 point lead after the first quarter.
Guyana was expected to put up much more of a fight but their lack of international playing exposure proved to be a huge disadvantage for them. Toni Atherley and Shakila Small lead the charge for the winning Barbados team, with 19 and 16

points respectively. While Guyana’s Miriam McKenzie and Jada Mohan put up a fight with 12 and 10 points respectively, they were no match for Barbados who eventually won 79-39.
In game 2 against hosts Suriname, Guyana played a much more composed game with both their offence and defence working in perfect harmony. Although the Guyanese team played much better in their second game, the local girls still fell short of a victory.
Again, Miriam McKenzie took charge of the side netting 24 points, whilst Kennesha Leacock ably assisted with 13 points.
Suriname’s Cyarah Kensmill and Zephanya Zeeluk put up 22 and 17 points to hand Guyana yet another defeat this time 73-52.
The Guyanese women are in Group B with Suriname, Barbados and The Dominican Republic. They will play another game before they return home on June 22.