Loughborough Lightning extended their 100% start to the Netball Super League season with an 83-69 victory against bottom side Birmingham Panthers.

Samantha Wallace-Joseph scored 35 goals for Lightning, who have won their first five matches to establish a three-point lead at the top of the table.

“It can be hard [being unbeaten] because all the teams are coming for us,” the Trinidad and Tobago goal shooter told BBC Sport.

“It’s just about keeping our consistency going, gelling together and executing the game plan.”

Panthers have lost their first five league matches of the campaign, each by a margin of at least 10, but they put up their biggest tally of goals in a match this season in a performance that pleased head coach Sonia Mkoloma.

“It wasn’t just the biggest score – I thought we stayed in it for longer,” Mkoloma told BBC Sport.

“We were competitive across four quarters, which we haven’t been, so I’m proud of them. I asked them to be competitive in this game and they stayed in it.”