Monthly Archives: February 2016

Feb 09 2016
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Ferns

Important W’s for Townsville and BYU

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Crucial win for Kalani Purcell and BYU.

Two important games featuring four Tall Ferns players were played last weekend, one in Victoria and the other in CaliforniaTwo important games featuring four Tall Ferns players were played last weekend, one in Victoria and the other in California. Guards Micaela Cocks and Chevannah Paalvast are members of the Australian WNBL defending champion Townsville Fire and were involved in an important regular season game against archrivals Bendigo Spirit.

11,000 kilometers away on the other side of the Pacific forwards Stella Beck and Kalani Purcell were facing off for their respective NCAA Division 1 college teams Saint Mary’s University Gaels and Brigham Young University-Provo Cougars.

When it comes to rivalries in the Australian WNBL they don’t get any bigger than the Bendigo Spirit and the Townsville Fire. It is a rivalry, built over contesting the past three championship playoffs, Bendigo winning two and Townsville the defending champion.

Townsville had lost the two previous games against the Spirit this season but they limited the Spirit to just 24 first half points to score a rare win at Bendigo Stadium, 75-63, on Sunday.

The fourth consecutive win by the Fire pleased coach Chris Lucas who told the Townsville Bulletin, “It was always going to be tough but we got the job done.” The Tall Ferns assistant coach added “I’m really proud of the team, it’s a great result for us and they always do a great job on the road.” The win propelled Townsville to the top of the WNBL ladder.

Cocks, a starter in the Fire team, didn’t have her best shooting night. Her 6 points came from 8 attempts but she did also add 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Rookie Paalvast didn’t trouble the statisticians but provided her usual athletic hustle in her 12 minutes on court.

Purcell and Beck have featured strongly in West Coast Conference play all season. Purcell is the league’s leading rebounder (13.5rpg) whilst Beck, has the best field goal shooting percentage in the conference – 56%.

BYU Cougars entered the game leading the West Coast Conference standings with an 11-1 record, St Mary’s Gaels second (9-2) but it was Purcell and the Cougars that collected the spoils winning the top of the table clash 65-44.

The win was described by BYU coach Jeff Judkins as, “One of the best games we have played all year.” His team raced to a 21-5 first quarter lead and dominated proceedings thereafter.

Once again Purcell was outstanding, she had a game-best nine rebounds and 10 assists plus 6 points before fouling out in the closing minutes.

Stella Beck put in a solid performance for St Mary’s but her 4 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, I block effort failed to put much of a dent in BYU’s twelfth straight win and apparent charge towards the Conference title.

Roundup of other news featuring  Tall Ferns overseas……….

 

Australian WNBL side South East Queensland Stars caused a major upset on Saturday defeating top of the table Perth Lynx 87-71 in Western Australia. Cantabrian Toni Edmondson could do little to help turn the tide in the hosts favour grabbing a pair of rebounds, dishing 5 assists but going 0 from 3 from the field.

It was quite a week for the Stars who called in the receivers on Wednesday, sacked coach Shane Heal but were rescued Thursday, won in Adelaide on Friday and prevailed in Perth on Saturday.

 

 

 

Jillian Harmon and Le Mura Lucca  racked up win number 17 to head the Italian SieraA League with just a solitary loss. Lucca beat Napoli 70-57 on a rare Monday night outing.  Harmon was not at her most accurate shooting 4 from 12 from the field but still racked up 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and a block in another powerful display.

Erin Rooney  enjoyed a weekend off at COB Calais (French League).

In other US college basketball news Colgate University Raiders fell to Navy on Saturday and now have a 2-9 record in Patriot League games. Hawkes Bay centre Josie Stockill scored 11 points and added 7 rebounds, 3 assists and a customary block as the Raiders slipped to a fourth straight loss, three of those by single digits.

Seattle University Redhawks (3-5 WAC) took an early lead but was eventually beaten 57-49 by Chicago State in Western Athletic Conference play. Forward Jacinta Beckley had 4pts (2/4FG), 2 rebs, and 1 steal for Seattle

Cal State Northridge Matadors (5-18, 3-6 BWC) lost 83-76 Saturday afternoon at UC Riverside in a Big West Conference game. Cantabrian Tessa Boagni had 8 points and 5 rebounds with the Matadors now 3-6 in conference play.

In Pac-12 Conference play Univ of California, Berkley Golden Bears went down 53-46 at No 15 ranked Stanford on Tuesday in the first of the Battle of the Bay encounters. The two fierce rivals met again on Friday but the outcome was the same as Cal was defeated at home 60-55 to slip to 2-10 in Pac-12 Conference play. Penina Davidson was a strong defensive presence for the Golden Bears accumulating 11 rebounds and 4 steals but her shooting form deserted her as she went 2 from 14 over the two games.

Feb 08 2016
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Blacks

Penney back in the groove

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Kirk Penney averaging 21pts a game for Illawarra this season

Kirk Penney may have missed the previous four games for the Illawarra Hawks due to a hamstring injury picked up against the Breakers last month but he certainly hasn’t lost his scoring touch. The Tall Blacks marksman scored 28 points as the Hawks secured a play-offs birth with a tense 104-97 overtime win against Townsville Crocodiles on Saturday. Penney missed with his opening range finder but was sublime thereafter caressing 10 from 16 shooting attempts including 5 from 9 triples.

Leon Henry was a little more subdued than his Kiwi counterpart contributing 4pts, 4 rebounds and a block to the spirited Crocs cause.

In other news from the Australian National Basketball League……

The Perth Wildcats versus Sydney Kings game got off to a surprising start in the first two minutes with the Kings opening up an 11-0 advantage.

That forced ‘Cats’ coach Trevor Gleeson to make an extremely unusual move and pull out his entire starting five replacing them with his back up crew that included Tall Blacks point guard Jarrod Kenny.

Perth’s second unit played out the rest of the first quarter and worked the home team back into the contest. They were within a point by quarter-time and continued to pull away the rest of the evening to eventually win 95-81.

Kenny, benefitting from extended court time produced an industrious 7pts/2rebs/3ast/2steals effort.

Fellow Tall Blacks guard Dion Prewster was largely anonymous for the Kings putting up just a single unsuccessful shot although he did manage a block and an assist.

Europe 

In the Eurocup CAI Zaragoza stayed in the fight to make it out of pool play by downing Turkish side Galatasaray Odeabank 85-68 at home in front of over 7,000 fans on Wednesday. Zaragoza, Galatasaray and Sassari (Italy) have a 3-2 record in Group N so it will all come down to next week’s games to decide which two teams progress to the last 16 knockout stage. Isaac Fotu was in fine form for the hosts scoring 14 points at a very efficient 6 from 7 shooting.

Zaragoza scored a major victory over FIATC Joventut in their struggle to move away from the lower reaches of the Spanish League on Sunday. A dominant 31-17 second quarter helped propel Zaragoza to a 94-83 success and improve their record to 6-13. Fotu was in double figures again with 10 points (4/7FG) along with 5 rebounds.

Duane Bailey only managed to convert one of six scoring attempts but he did amass 11 rebounds plus a pair of assists and a block as Plymouth Raiders beat Leeds Force 75-62. The win enabled the Raiders to jump over the Force into a play-off spot in the British Basketball League. Former Breakers player now Plymouth’s player coach Darryl Corletto led all scorers with 21 points.

In Belgium Rob Loe, recovering from knee ligament damage is targeting a return to the court in early March. His Limburg United team are tracking reasonably well in his absence sitting third on the Scooore League ladder with an 8-6 record.

American College 

Nebraska had a chance to tie in the final seconds against Number 4 ranked Maryland but the Huskers fell just short, 70-65 on Wednesday evening in front of a home crowd of 15,693.

Tai Webster made 6 from 7 free throws as he contributed 8 points, 5 rebounds and a game high 3 steals for Nebraska.

The Huskers broke a three game losing streak on Saturday comfortably beating Rutgers 87-63 to improve to 5-6 in Big Ten Conference play. Just 5 points, 2 rebounds and an assist for Webster in that one.

Jack Salt didn’t suit up for Virginia University as the Cavaliers beat Pitt 64-50 on Saturday. The Cavaliers, 8-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, have won six straight and its early

Feb 02 2016
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Blacks

Tall Blacks overseas roundup

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Henry disappointed he couldn’t get win against “brothers”.

Leon Henry would have loved to get another win over on his former team at Vector Arena on Friday night. The Breakers looked to be heading for a comfortable victory to avenge their 23 points drubbing at the hands of the Crocs last week. The hosts led by 11 points in the fourth quarter but in the end had to withstand a typical Townsville fight back to eventually stumble across the line 77-74.

Henry had a relatively quiet night adding a block and a rebound to a couple of points.

In other news from the Australian National Basketball League.

In the battle of the top two sides Melbourne United secured an overtime victory, 91-85, in Perth against the Wildcats on Friday. Jarrod Kenny (2p/3r/4a/2steals) helped spark a Cats revival as they scored ten of the last twelve points in regulation but United weathered the Perth revival to move to the top of the NBL ladder with a 17-8 record.

Sydney Kings went down 81-76 in Cairns in the third Friday night game, the defeat handing the Kings the NBL wooden spoon for just the second time in franchise history. Dion Prewster had 2pts/4rebs/2 assists for Sydney.

There were initial fears Kirk Penney may have suffered a season-ending hamstring injury against the Breakers a couple of weeks ago before scans confirmed a burst blood vessel was behind the extensive bruising and swelling in his leg. Without Penney the Illawarra Hawks managed to split their two game series with the Adelaide 36ers in this round, both teams winning their home encounters.

Europe –Men

On Wednesday in the Eurocup Italian club Dinamo Sassari never trailed before holding on to 75-72 win over CAI Zaragoza to stay in contention for a place in the quarter finals. Sassari and CAI both hold 2-2 records in a share of second place of Group N, but CAI has the tie-breaking advantage with its 12-point win over Sassari last week. The top two teams in each group advance into the last eight. Isaac Fotu went 2 from 5 from the field for 4 points for Zaragoza.

Zaragoza was beaten 91-81 at Andorra on Saturday and appears to be in a Liga Endesa relegation battle in the second half of the season. Fotu started for Zaragoza but scored just 5 points as his team slip to 16th in the 18-team competition with a 5-13 record.

Plymouth Raiders had a double header against Sheffield Sharks at the weekend and got bitten on both occasions. Duane Bailey scored 2 points and secured 5 rebounds as the Raiders went down 74-68 on Friday night in a British Basketball League encounter. 48 hours later the Raiders were knocked out of the Trophy competition at the quarter final stage thumped 99-73 at home.

American College – Men

Tai Webster has found some good form lately for the Nebraska University Huskers. He is the only player averaging double figures in Big Ten Conference play while not making a start in conference play. Webster is averaging 11 points per game and had 12 points and a career-high five steals last week against Michigan.

On Saturday the Huskers visited Purdue, a college that must have one of the least attractive monikers in NCAA sport, being known as the Boilermakers. Unattractive or not the No. 21 ranked Purdue topped Nebraska, 89-74, the Huskers slipping to 4-5 in conference games. Webster was in the thick of the action again with 17 points (6/10FG, 4/5FT), 4 rebounds and 3 steals.

Jack Salt only played 4 minutes for the Virginia University Cavaliers on Tuesday but he was a member of the excited bench brigade looking on as the Cavs came back from 10 points down with 1:23 remaining to defeat Wake Forrest 72-71. Guard Darius Thompson made a sideline three on the buzzer to give the Cavs the most unlikely of victories.

Virginia improved to 6-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday routing Louisville 63-47. Salt only played in the last minute but did step on court in front 22,000 Louisville supporters. Imagine that!

Feb 01 2016
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Ferns

Harmon, Stockill and Purcell continue good form overseas

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Jillian Harmon is averaging almost 20pts a game in the Italian League

 

Jillian Harmon is enjoying a heck of a season in Italy. In the latest game in the Italian League Harmon led all scorers with 25 points as Le Mura Lucca, with an impressive 16-1 record, retained top spot on the SerieA ladder after a hard fought 71-61 win at Battipaglia.

The Tall Ferns forward has registered nine 20+ points haul this season and sits fifth in scoring in the league averaging 19.9 points per game and second in steals with 3.8 per game.

Calais (3-12) lost its fifth game in a row in the French League going down 62-49 at Hainaut and remains 13th on the 14-team ladder. Former Canterbury guard Erin Rooney fouled out with 2 points (1/5FG), 3 rebounds and 3 assists for Calais.

A number of our Tall Ferns have also been performing strongly in college basketball.

Being named the West Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the third straight week did nothing to diminish Kalani Purcell’s thirst for action.

The BYU-Provo Cougars forward recorded her 11th double double of the season as the Cougars won the first of four consecutive road games beating Loyola Marymount, 82-75 on Thursday. Purcell recorded 14 points and 14 rebounds.

BYU closed out its southern California road trip with its tenth straight win, 77-66, in a close fought battle against Pepperdine on Saturday.

Saint Mary’s Gaels completed their first-ever undefeated month of January, defeating Pacific 83-75 on Saturday. Stella Beck fouled out in just 17 minutes after contributing 7 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

The win gave the Gaels a 7-0 record in January, as they improve to 17-4 overall, 8-2 West Coast Conference.  The win sets up a big weekend next week as the Gaels welcome first-place co-leaders BYU-Provo and San Diego.  The Gaels are just one game back in the loss column and can move up the WCC standings with a win or wins.

Hawkes Bay Forward Josie Stockill led the Colgate scoring with 19 points (6/24FG, 6/8FT) as the Raiders lost 64-56 to America in Washington. Stockill, who is having an outstanding season, added 7 rebounds an assist and a block as Colgate slip to a 2-7 record in Patriot League games.

After battling traffic on the trip down to Orange County, Cal State Northridge Matadors picked up its second Big West Conference win defeating UC Irvine 83-64 on Thursday night.

Tessa Boagni came off the bench to finish with eight points (2/3FG, 4/5FT); all coming in the opening quarter, and eight rebounds for the Matadors.

Boagni was in boards dominating form again on Saturday as the Matadors won its third-straight conference game with a 79-52 victory over Cal State Fullerton. The Cantabrian added 4 points, 2 assists and a block to a 10 rebounds haul.

Former Rangitoto College student Penina Davidson (2pts/2rebs/1steal) started for Univ of Cal Golden Bears who picked up just their second Pac-12 Conference win on Friday, edging to a welcome 74-71 win against Washington State.

At home again on Sunday the Golden Bears slipped up against University of Washington going down 75-65. Davidson had 4 points and 3 rebounds as Cal slip to 2-8 in Pac-12 games.

Our four Tall Ferns playing in the Australian WNBL had quiet outings this week despite their respective teams recording victories.

The Townsville Fire secured an important win against Sydney University Flames on Friday. The Fire won 89-80 against another top four play-off contender with guard Micaela Cocks contributing 7 points (3/6FG), 3 rebounds and an assist.

Fellow Kiwi guard Chevannah Paalvast did not trouble the scorers playing just three minutes for the Fire.

Cantabrian Toni Edmondson had a 0 from 5 shooting night on Saturday as Perth Lynx thumped the injury plagued Melbourne Boomers 80-59. The Lynx remain top of the ladder, one win ahead of Townsville who have a game in hand, with a 14-6 record

Tall Fern Jess Bygate hasn’t been seeing much court time lately for Adelaide Lightning but the Nelson forward did make her only shot of the game as the Lightning moved out of the bottom two on the ladder for the first time this season with a comprehensive 70-47 win over Melbourne Boomers.

It has recently been announced that at the conclusion of the WNBL season Bygate will link up with Tall Ferns coach Kennedy Kereama at Sunbury Jets to play in the Victorian Big V League.

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