Namibia beat Zambia in physical battle

Namibia beat Zambia 44-31 in a physical and hard fought netball encounter at the SADC Youth Games on June 28.
Namibia took an early 12-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, and went into halftime with a healthy 24-13 lead. Zambia did well to match Namibia after the break with the third quarter score being 35-24 in Namibiaâ??s favour.
But in the fourth quarter the match degenerated into a physical battle as Zambia fought tooth and nail to reduce the deficit, with two Namibian players receiving injuries.
Namibiaâ??s top goal shooter Moa Tjipetekere had to leave the court with a bleeding nose after receiving an elbow in the face, while Namibiaâ??s goal defence Maria Simendia also had to receive medical treatment for a foul.
Namibian coach Andrew Hoaeb paid tribute to Zambiaâ??s attackers and praised his defenders.
â??It was a very stressful match. Zambia had sharp shooters and our defenders had to be on top of their game. Towards the end, the match became very physical and the Zambians clearly went for our girls and not the ball. But Iâ??m very proud of our girls and especially our defenders,â? he said.
In other netball matches on June 28, Botswana beat Swaziland 50-34, while Lesotho beat Angola 56-10.