LACEY LOWDOWN

Appropriately on Senior Day Mary Goulding, in her final collegiate year, came up big for Fordham University Rams as they beat Massachusetts 76-64. The Waikato native made 15 points and claimed game highs in rebounds (8), assists (5) and steals (3).

The Rams seventh straight win propels them to 11-3 and maintains them in second place on the Atlantic Coast Conference table.

Amiee Book was once again in good shooting form for California State Fullerton Titans shooting 7 from 10 from the floor on her way to 16 points. It was Book’s fifth double figure points haul in her last six games but the Titans slipped to 4-8 in West Coast Conference play.

Akiene-Tera Reid returned to the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams lineup after a two-game absence due to injury but couldn’t prevent VCU falling 71-68 in overtime to Duquesne University. Reed came up with 11 points (5/8FG) as the Rams, despite the loss, still sit atop the Atlantic 10 Conference with an 12-2 record.

Ten points from Tegan Graham wasn’t enough to get Colgate University across the line against Lehigh, the Raiders going down 75-63 in the Patriot League. Colgate slip to 5-9 in Patriot play after a fifth straight defeat.

Freshman Esra McGoldrick posted 10 points (4/6FG) and 5 rebounds, her best numbers in her fledgling college career, as North Carolina State crushed Wake Forest 80-46 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

Kayla Manuirirangi scored 8 points for Tulane Green Wave in narrow 83-82 defeat against Houston University.

Former Tall Fern Dru Toleafoa added 5 points to 9 rebounds and 6 assists in her 98^thgame for Santa Clara University Broncos. The Broncos bucked Portland 106-68, the SCU 5-11 in West Coast Conference play.

A career high points haul from Callum McRae highlights the latest news on Kiwi men playing NCAA Division I basketball

The freshman centre recorded his second career double-double posting a career high 16 points to accompany 10 rebounds in his latest outing for the University of California Riverside . Despite the efforts of the former Palmerston North Boys High standout the Highlanders fell 71-67 in overtime to Long Beach State in Big West Conference action.

McRae is having a fine debut season averaging 7 points and 4 rebounds per game. Impressively he has averaged 10 points and 5.6 rebounds since claiming a starting spot ten games ago.

A perfect shooting game from Yanni Wetzell couldn’t prevent Vanderbilt University Commodores falling to its fourteenth straight Southeastern Conference defeat at the hands of Alabama University (68-61). The former Westlake forward compiled ten points on 4 from 4 shooting from the floor plus 2 from 2 free throws – he also totalled 8 rebounds.

Jackson Stent scored 9 points (3/5FG, 3/4FT) as Houston Baptist University Huskies suffered an agonising 119-113 double overtime loss at Sam Houston State. The Huskies are 6-8 in Southland Conference play with four regular season games to play.

Izayah Le’afa scored 8 points as Sacramento State Hornets defeated Weber State 78-76 in a come from behind victory. Sacramento State only led for 2:49 in the game as they secured a sixth Big Sky Conference victory.

Miami University Hurricanes secured its fourth Atlantic Coast Conference win of the campaign defeating Georgia Tech 80-65. Sam Waardenburg scored 7 points and was also a defensive pest snatching a pair of steals and also blocking 2 shots.

Six points (3/4FG) from Matt Freeman helped Oklahoma University Sooners beat Texas 69-67 in an exciting contest. The win also kept the Sooners outside chance of making the NCAA Tournament alive – currently they are 5-9 in conference play and 17-10 overall for the season.

Mary Goulding put together her seventh double-double of the season as Fordham University Rams beat Davidson University 58-42. The Rangiora native had 11 points and 11 rebounds as well as dishing 5 assists. Kendell Heremaia also threatened a double-D totaling 7 points and 9 rebounds. The third Kiwi Zara Jillings produced just 2 points but did snare 5 rebounds and 2 steals.

Fordham followed that with a sixth straight win at St Bonaventure (53-44) – the Rams are 10-3 in Atlantic 10 Conference play. Goulding led all scorers with 14 points to go with 7 rebounds and Heremaia posted 8 points and 6 boards.

It was unlucky thirteen for Krystal Leger-Walker and the Northern Colorado University Bears. She strung together 13 points (6/11FG), 4 assists and a pair of steals for the Bears but they were beaten 76-72 by Eastern Washington Eagles.

Two days later Leger-Walker played all 40 minutes as the Bears beat Idaho 77-72 and are now 11-4 in Big Sky Conference play. 10 points (3/7FG) and 5 assists from the Waikato native helped NCU record its bounce back win.

Michelle Nicholls scored 10 points as La Salle University Explorers (1-12 in conference play) were pipped 64-63 by St Joseph’s in a game that featured 15 ties and 16 lead changes. Nicholls also dished 4 assists, that’s 20 dimes in the last five games.

Freshman Aimee Book, who has started the last five games, had 12 points and 7 rebounds in a 73-64 loss against California State University Northridge Aimee scored all her points from beyond the three-point arc making 4 from 7 threes. Six losses on the bounce see the Titans slip to 3-7 in the Big West Conference.

Joellen How scored 11 points as Wagner College Seahawks beat Central Connecticut State 70-62 to pick up its fourth straight win (the last time they won five consecutive games as in 1998). How was highly efficient making four from 5 shots including 3 from 4 threes in just 12 minutes of court time.

A steal and a pair of free throws inside the final six seconds earned Tulane University Green Wave an exciting 61-59 win against the University of Central Florida, the No 2 team in the American Athletic Conference. Kayla Manuirirangi played her part in the win with 8 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists in 26 minutes of action

Amy West pulled down a career high 6 rebounds, including 3 offensive boards, in just 10 minutes of play as Liberty University Flames fired past Lipscomb 74-60. The Palmerston North native also scored a couple of points as the Flames moved to 6-5 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Freshman forward Esra McGoldrick knocked down her first career three for North Carolina State but the Wolfpack suffered just its third defeat of the season going down 95-72 to No 5 ranked Notre Dame.

Both Akiene-Tera Reed (Virginia Commonwealth) and Shalae Salmon (Brigham Young) have been sidelined in the past week due to injuries.

A career high in points (23) and assists (7) from Michelle Nicholls propelled La Salle University Explorers to a 77-71 win against Rhode Island – it’s first Atlantic-10 Conference win of the season.

Her 23 points, on 7 from 11 shooting, are the most points scored by an Explorer this season and helped end a run of eleven straight losses dating back to mid-December.

At the other end of the A-10 Conference table Virginia Commonwealth University Rams moved to 10-1, its best conference start in programme history. Akiene-Tera Reed’s 9 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists helped VCU to a 58-37 win against Richmond.

Also chugging along nicely in the A-10 behind VCU are Fordham University – four straight wins moves them to 8-3 in conference play. Its latest successes were home wins against George Mason and St Louis with Mary Goulding and Kendell Heremaia prominent.

Goulding put together a destructive 12 points and 13 rebounds – her sixth double-double of the season against St Louis and followed that with a career high 19 points against George Mason. Kendell Heremaia totaled 13 points, 11 rebounds, 5 steals, 3 assists and a block across the two fixtures.

Amiee Book was another in double-double mode – the freshman guard added a career high 11 rebounds to 10 points for Cal State Fullerton Titans. It was Book’s first double-double in college basketball but unfortunately the Titans were trumped 62-59 on the road by UC Riverside.

Book followed that with 13 points, 5 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block against UC Irvine but the Titans were outscored 23-7 in the final quarter eventually going down 65-61. Three losses on the bounce for the Titans (3-6 in the Big West Conference) in February but all by single figure margins.

Kayla Mauirirangi dropped 11 points for Tulane University but the Green Wave suffered a third straight loss, rolled 72-67 by Tulsa. Tulane have a 4-6 record in the American Athletic Conference.

There was little in the way of startling numbers from the Kiwi men playing Division I hoops this week.

The short-handed University of Miami Hurricanes snapped a five game losing streak beating Notre Dame 62-47. They came close to making it two wins on the bounce but fell 88-85 in overtime to No 8 ranked North Carolina with Sam Waardenburg scoring 8 points on 3 from 3 shooting – landing both efforts from beyond the arc.

In a high octane encounter between the number two and three ranked NCAA Division I college teams it was Duke University that prevailed beating Virginia University Cavaliers 81-71. Jack Salt produced 6 points and two’s in rebounds, assists and steals as Virginia slip to 8-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (20-2 overall).

Another starting centre with 6 points was Callum McRae. The former Palmerston North Boys High big man also added 4 rebounds as University of California Riverside lost 77-54 at home to UC Santa Barbara.

Also on the losing side was Izayah Le’afa as Sacramento State Hornets were stung 65-59 at Northern Colorado. Le’afa collected 5 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals as the Hornets fall to 1-5 against Big Sky Conference opponents.

Sam Timmins scored with his only two shots but Washington University Huskies lost its unbeaten Pac 12 Conference record after a 75-63 loss at Arizona State and Yanni Wetzel also scored 4 points as Vanderbilt University, still looking for its first Southeastern Conference win, lost 77-67 at Alabama.

Tegan Graham

Wellingtonian guard Tegan Graham was one point shy of equalling her career best, scoring 17 points (7/14FG, 3/5 3PG), as she paced Colgate University Raiders to a 70-58 victory over Army at West Point. Graham was in fine form adding a trio of steals and assists plus a block. The Raiders are 4-4 in the Patriot League.

Akiene-Tera Reed scored a game high 18 points (5/11FG, 7/8FT) as Virginia Commonwealth Rams comfortably accounted for St Joseph’s 65-47. She also added 4 rebounds at VCU moved to 8-1 at the head of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Kendell Heremaia dropped a career high 4 triples (made from 9 attempts) on her way to 14 points and 6 rebounds as Fordham University Rams improved to 6-3 in the Atlantic 10 Conference, fourth on the table behind VCU, with a 57-46 win against Duquesne. Mary Goulding filled the stats line with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.

Shalae Salmon scored 13 points (6/12FG) but BYU, after starting West Coast Conference play with nine straight wins, slipped to a 79-65 defeat at Pepperdine. The starting centre also garnered 6 rebounds.

Amiee Book made her third start of the season for Cal State Fullerton Titans in their 59-53 loss to Log Beach State. The former Canterbury Wildcat scored 12 points (4/10FG), 4 rebounds and 2 assists – her 12^thdouble digit return of the season. The Titans slip to 3-4 in the Big West Conference.

It seems a common theme when talking about Krystal Leger-Walker as she once again stuffed the stats sheet as Northern Colorado Bears won 84-73 at Idaho State. The Waikato guard finished with 10 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals as the Bears moved to 9-2 in the Big Sky Conference.

Former Palmerston North Girls High forward Amy West scored a season best 6 points plus 4 rebounds as Liberty University Flames put the Lipscomb fire out winning 77-60. The Flames are 4-3 in the ASUN Conference.

Katelin Noyer has returned to action for Fresno State after undergoing foot surgery prior to the start of the season. She played 4 minutes for the Bulldogs against Wyoming in her comeback game and was then given a start at New Mexico where the Bulldogs went down 82-73. In front of 6,000 fans Noyer scored a couple of points and secured a pair of rebounds in 16 minutes as Fresno State slip to 6-3 in the Mountain West Conference.

Two North Shore boys Sam Waardenburg and Jack Salt squared off at the Paul Jones Arena, home of the University of Virginia Cavaliers, on Sunday (NZ Time).

It was Salt and the Cavaliers that eventually prevailed 56-46 but the University of Miami Hurricanes were far from blown away by their Atlantic Coast Conference rivals in a low scoring encounter.

Former Rangitoto College standout Waardenburg (10 points) reached double figures for the fifth time this season on 4 from 9 shooting. In 36 minutes of action, the most minutes he has played in a conference game, the sophomore forward also added 3 rebounds a steal and a block.

Salt, in his final year at the No 3 ranked Virginia, was his usual rock solid self on defense picking up a season high 9 rebounds to accompany 7 points (3/5FG).

Next up for Virginia (8-1 in conference play and 20-1 overall) is the mouth-watering prospect of entertaining Duke ranked No 1 or No 2 depending on which polls you view. Duke prevailed 72-70 when the teams last met – the game is scheduled for next Sunday (NZT).

In other news former Palmerston North Boys High standout Callum McRae was one of few bright lights for University of California Riverside as they were smacked 71-45 by Cal Poly. The freshman centre had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks, recording his fifth consecutive game in double figures.

Sacramento State Hornets are 6-4 in the Big Sky Conference after a convincing 74-58 win at Idaho State. Izayah Le’afa led the Hornets scoring effort with a season high 16 points on 6 from 10 shooting including 4 from 7 from beyond the arc.

Another former Tall Black Sam Timmins produced 9 points (3/5FG), 6 rebounds and 3 blocks as the University of Washington Huskies (9-0) remain unbeaten in the Pac 12 Conference after a 69-55 home victory against UCLA.