Jhaniele Fowler

Jamaican goal shooters Romelda Aiken and Jhaniele Fowler turned in brilliant shooting performances to guide their teams to victories in the ANZ Championships in New Zealand yesterday.

The 23-year-old Aiken, who previously represented Jamalco in the local leagues, netted 40 goals from 43 attempts to lead the Queensland Firebirds to a 63-54 victory over the West Coast Fever.

Aiken, who is regarded as one of the best shooters in the world, recovered from a tame first-half shooting performance, where she netted 16 goals, to finish the game in a flourish by scoring 27 goals in the second half.

She rarely looked troubled, despite the attentions of England international Eboni Beckford-Chambers and fellow defender, Australian Courtney Bruce, as she easily muscled her way around both players. The victory moves the Firebirds to joint second in the standings with 12 points.

Romelda Aiken - File

On the other hand, Fowler, who is the leading scorer in the championships, netted a scintillating 59 goals from 63 attempts to guide the Southern Steel to a 60-55 win over the New South Wales Swifts.

Fowler leads the scoring table with 309 goals ahead of Aiken, who is second with 267 goals, while another Jamaican Carla Williams-Borrego is in sixth place with 205 goals. The win moved the Southern Steel to fifth on six points.

Williams-Borrego scored 29 goals from 35 attempts to lead Adelaide Thunderbirds to a 45-33 victory over the Waikato Magic. The Thunderbirds lead the standing with 12 points.

scoring record

The 23-year-old Fowler, who represented Waulgrovians in the local leagues, had earlier set a new scoring record in the second round of the competition, when she netted 65 goals to lead the Steel to a comfortable 75-56 victory over Canterbury Tactix.

Fowler's performance broke the previous single-game scoring record of 58 goals, which was jointly held by Williams-Borrego and Aiken.

The powerful shooter, who stands at 6ft 6in, is the tallest player in the ANZ Champion-ships, eclipsing Aiken by three-quarters of an inch. Fowler will next be in action on Sunday when the Southern Steel tackle Waikato Magic.