LACEY LOWDOWN

Last March Fordham University claimed the Atlantic 10 Conference title with a 62-47 win against Virginia Commonwealth University in the championship game.

That result meant joy for the Fordham’s New Zealand contingent of Kendell Heremaia, Zara Jillings and Mary Goulding. In contrast it was disappointment for VCU’s Akiene-Tera Reed.

On Thursday (NZT) the two teams met again for the first, and perhaps only, time this season with three of the protagonists back in action. Goulding has moved on to begin her professional career (currently playing for IK Eos in Sweden) but the remaining trio are still around to reignite their rivalry. In fact all are juniors so will have another season of locking horns beyond this campaign.

On this occasion it was Reed who could afford the smile as her 19 points (5/10FG, 9/10FT), 7 rebounds and 5 assists helped propel VCU to a 62-52 home win.

Like Reed, Heremaia is having an outstanding season. The Fordham co-captain, in a typically tenacious performance, came up with 11 points, 3 rebounds and a career high 6 steals – she leads the league in rebounds averaging 8.4 boards per game. Other than the starters Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jillings played the most minutes (19) corralling 4 rebounds for Fordham.

Reed, a Tall Fern in 2018, is once again leading the VCU scoring averaging 15 points per game and has scored in double figures in 15 of the 18 games she has played this season she sits sixth on the A-10 scoring list.

VCU now sit atop the A-10 Conference table with a 7-0 record whilst Fordham sip back into mid table with 4 wins and 3 losses.

The game was the only scheduled meeting between the two teams this season although they could meet again in post regular season play once the play-offs begin in early March.

Dan Fotu, sophomore at St Mary’s College, California

Starting his eighth straight game Dan Fotu had 13 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and a pair of steals as St Marys beat Loyola Marymount 73-62 to move to 5-2 in the West Coast Conference. Fotu shot a perfect 4 from 4 from the field and added a free-throw in his third double figure haul of the season.

Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa, freshman at Sacramento State University

Izayah Le’afa had a shooting night to forget in Sacramento State’s 66-55 home win against Portland State. He missed all seven of his shots from the floor but his effort was highly evident in other areas finishing with a game high 5 steals, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

Yanni Wetzell, senior at San Diego State University

San Diego remained the only unbeaten team in Men’s NCAA Division I basketball with their 21st straight win of the season to beat the programme record of 20-0 set in 2010-11. Yanni Wetzell went for 8 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in the 71-67 win against UNLV in Vegas. A couple of days earlier they beat Wyoming 72-55 with Wetzell scoring in double figures for the sixth straight game. He finished with 14 points (6/8FG) and added 2 rebounds, 5 assists and a block.

Matt Freeman, senior at UC Santa Barbara

Matt Freeman came off the bench for UC Santa Barbara in the Gauchos 83-75 loss to CSUN. The former Westlake man came up with a solid 8 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Santa Barbara have slipped to 1-3 in the Big West Conference.

Sam Waardenburg, junior at University of Miami

Miami had a notable win against Virginia Tech prevailing 71-61 to improve to 3-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Waardenburg put together 9 points, 6 rebounds an assist and a steal in 33 minutes.

Bubbling under

 Taki Fahrensohn scored 11 points (3/9 3PG) on his return to the Portland lineup having missed the previous three games with a leg injury. A depleted Pilots outfit were beaten on the road 77-65 by Loyola Marymount.

Jackson Stent had 4 points and 4 rebounds for Houston Baptist in a 102-89 loss to McNeese. Houston are struggling in the Southland Conference with just one win in 8 games.

There was joy for Matt Freeman and disappointment for Callum McRae and Angus McWilliam as University California Santa Barbara beat University California Riverside 65-63 in a Big West Conference thriller.

All three Kiwis played their part as Santa Barbara broke a three-game losing stretch to improve to 2-3 in conference play. Matt Freeman contributed 6 points, that included two made threes, plus 5 rebounds and 4 assists as the Gauchos recovered from a ten-point first half deficit.

After opening the Big West with a couple of wins Riverside have now dropped three on the bounce. Angus McWilliam had 7 points and 4 rebounds for the Highlanders whilst Callum McRae came up with 6 points, 2 rebounds and a block. The Highlanders are 3-3 in conference play and next host Max de Geest and Long Beach State on January 30^th.

The votes are in for the latest NCAA Division I Team of the Week! Charlotte Whittaker makes a welcome return after injury and Kayla Manuirirangi’s shooting performance also earns her a spot in the five.

Full team:

Kayla Manuirirangi, senior at Tulane University

Kayla Manuirirangi was given the green light from beyond the arc as she totalled 19 points for Tulane University who are 6-1 in the American Athletic Conference. The former New Plymouth Girls High standout put up a massive 16 shots from three-point land connecting with 6 for her season best scoring performance. She also added 5 rebounds and 3 assists in the 60-59 home win against Central Florida.

Akiene-Tera Reed, junior at Virginia Commonwealth University

Tera Reed score 14 points as Virginia Commonwealth prevailed 82-63 against George Mason. The consistent Reed has now scored 14 points or more in 10 of her last 11 games for the Rams who have a 6-0 record in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Next up is a blockbuster against Fordham University in a repeat of last year’s A-10 Grand Final.

Kendell Heremaia, junior at Fordham University

Fordham University came from 12 points down to defeat St Louis 66-54 for a win that gives the defending champions a 4-1 record in Atlantic 10 Conference fixtures. Co-captain Kendell Heremaia finished with 5 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in 28 minutes for Fordham. A couple of days later Fordham again trailed by 12 but couldn’t recover on that occasion losing 48-44 to Dayton. Once more Heremaia was prominent with a season high equalling 14 rebounds to accompany 5 points, 3 assists and a couple of steals.

Tsubasa Nisbett, sophomore at Georgia Southern University

Another start and another handy contribution from Tsubasa Nisbett as Georgia Southern beat rivals Georgia State 81-56 to improve to 3-4 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Cantabrian contributed 8 points and four each of assists and rebounds.

Amiee Book, sophomore at Cal State Fullerton

Despite Amiee Book getting a team high 17 points (8/13FG) Fullerton fell 75-66 to UC Santa Barbara – a third straight loss for the Titans who slip to 2-3 in the Big West Conference.

Charlotte Whittaker, freshman at University of Colorado

It is great to see Charlotte Whittaker back on court after a hip injury had kept her sidelined for a couple of weeks. The former St Andrew’s College star came off the bench to total 9 points and 7 rebounds as the Buffaloes won at Cal 62-50 to improve to 3-5 in the Pac 12.

Bubbling Under

In front of over 2,000 fans Shalae Salmon came up with 4 points (2/2FG), 5 rebounds and a brace of blocks as Brigham Young University won 57-44 against San Francisco. BYU moved to 3-2 in West Coast Conference play a couple of days later with an emphatic 71-48 win against Santa Clara. Salmon had 4 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists with Kaylee Smiler chipping in with 3 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Brown University are 0-2 in Ivy League games after suffering a 73-40 home defeat to Yale. McKenna Dale had 4 points and 5 rebounds for the Bears.

It may be more than a couple of months away yet but who of our fourty-odd Kiwis (21 women and 20 men) playing NCAA Division I hoops are likely to feature in the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Tournament in late March?

Remembering that with the 32 conference winners gaining automatic entry only a further 36 teams (32 women’s teams) gain selection from the remaining 321 Division 1 colleges it’s a results driven business.

Of the Men’s teams only Yanni Wetzell and the San Diego Aztecs would be sure of a nod from the tournament committee if invitations were handed out tomorrow. The Aztecs are ranked anywhere between second and seventh, depending on which poll you look at, on the back of their record equalling 20-0 start to the season – the only unbeaten team in Men’s Division I basketball.

St Mary’s are the next highest ranked team with a Kiwi player on the roster. Dan Fotu has been called upon to play as the starting centre for the Gaels who are currently ranked 41. Quinn Clinton is also at St Mary’s but he is redshirting the 2019/20 season. With Gonzaga favourites in the West Coast Conference St Mary’s will need to string some victories together to climb into contention.

The same can be said for Sam Timmins and the University of Washington from the Pac 12 Conference who sit seven places lower at 48th.

Flynn Cameron and De Paul University are at #52 and the only other player on a Top 100 team is Sam Waardenburg with Miami Hurricanes who sit at 92^nd. An indication of how strong the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) is regarded is that Miami sit 14^th on the ACC standings with a 2-6 record yet still figure in the top 100 teams nationally.

The best of the rest is Izayah Le’afa and Sacramento State Hornets at #122. They will have to win the Big Sky Conference to feature in March Madness.

In the Women’s rankings top spot sits with Tara Manuumale. The former Junior Tall Fern is a freshman at Arizona who sit 19th on the NCAA Women’s Div I ranking list.

Just outside the Top 50 are University of Colorado with Charlotte Whittaker making quite an impact in her freshman season.

Not far behind at #69 are St Mary’s Gaels who boast a trio of Kiwis – seniors  Shalae Salmon and Khaedin Taito plus freshman Kaylee Smiler.

Tegan Graham and Colgate University (13-5) are going well in the Patriot League and squeeze inside the Top 100 at No 92 with Katelin Noyer and Fresno State Bulldogs at #94.

The best of the rest are the Atlantic 10 Conference pairing of Fordham University (#114) and Virginia Commonwealth (#138). Fordham, the A-10 champions last season, have the Kiwi duo of Kendell Heremaia and Zara Jillings whilst Virginia Commonwealth, the beaten finalists in 2019, are led by leading scorer Akiene-Tera Reed.

Another interesting week of Men’s NCAA Division I basketball has ended with San Diego State at No 2 on the NCAA ranking table. With Yanni Wetzell playing a big part in the Aztecs success it’s not a surprise he heads the Lowdown Player of the Week standings.

The full team is:

Yanni Wetzell, senior at San Diego State University

San Diego (19-0) remain the only unbeaten team in Men’s NCAA Division I basketball after defeating Nevada 68-55. The occasion was a personal triumph for Yanni Wetzell who amassed 17 points (7/13FG, 2/2 3PG) and a career high 16 rebounds plus 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal in a dominating performance.

Angus McWilliam, sophomore at University California Riverside

In a probable first for New Zealand basketball Angus McWilliam and Callum McRae were the two leading scorers for University of California Riverside Highlanders in the 80-68 loss to CSUN on Thursday.

Cantabrian McWilliam led the Highlanders effort with 15 points (5/8FG) closely followed by McRae – the former Palmerston North Boys High centre scoring 14 points (6/11FG). McWilliam also topped the UCR rebounding count with 8 boards.

I will stand corrected but I believe it is the first time a pair of Kiwis have been the top two scorers in a game for an NCAA Division I team.

Callum McRae, sophomore at University California Riverside

McRae followed the above performance with 7 points, 7 rebounds (4 at the offensive end), and 2 assists in a 69-53 loss to UC Irvine.

Sam Waardenburg, junior at Miami University

Despite tying a career best 11  rebounds Miami lost a heartbreaker against #9 Florida State going down 83-79 in overtime. He also added 7 points, an assist, a block and a steal in 41 minutes – commendably he had zero turnovers in that time.

Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa, freshman at Sacramento State University

Sacramento State’s 71-62 loss at Northern Colorado marked the first game this season Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa hasn’t scored from the three-point line this season for the Hornets.

The Wellingtonian made a single triple in the next game, a 74-49 loss at Southern Utah. He finished with 5 points, 6 rebounds and a couple of steals.

Bubbling under

Dan Fotu had 5 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists as St Marys Gaels bet Pepperdine 78-69 to climb to 3-2 in West Coast Conference play.

Former Waikato and Melville High School standout Kaylee Smiler makes the Lowdown Team of the Week for the first time after starring in BYU’s win at St Mary’s. Tegan Graham is unlucky to miss the cut despite scoring a dozen points for Colgate Raiders.

Kaylee Smiler, freshman at Brigham Young University

Kaylee Smiler enjoyed a breakout performance in Brigham Young University’s (BYU) 65-55 win at St Mary’s, California on Sunday (NZT). Smiler produced career-best numbers in points (19), rebounds (6) and steals (2.) In 29 minutes of action Smiler put on something of a shooting clinic making 7 from 9 from the field including an impressive 4 from 4 from beyond the arc.

“Kaylee had a great game for us today, what a way to step up when we needed her to. I’m very happy for her and all her hard work,” said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins about his freshman guard.

Akiene-Tera Reed, junior at Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth won a tight one against Richmond (53-50) with Tera Reed scoring 14 points. That carried Reed past 1,000 career points at VCU in her third year with the Rams. Becoming the 24^th player to reach that mark in VCU history it will be interesting to see where she sits on the Rams all-time list when her college career ends next year.

Amiee Book, sophomore at Cal State Fullerton

Fullerton lost back to back games (63-57 in overtime to CSUN and 79-72 at Hawaii) in Big West Conference play. Amiee Book amassed a career best 13 rebounds to accompany 22 points against CSUN, the Waimea product following that with 7 points and 11 rebounds in Hawaii.

Kendell Heremaia, junior at Fordham University

Stats stuffer Kendell Heremaia was busy again as Fordham moved to 3-1 in the Atlantic 10 Conference with a 66-54 win at George Mason. The Fordham co-captain had 8 points, 5 rebounds, a massive 7 assists, 1 block and a steal.

McKenna Dale, junior at Brown University

McKenna Dale grabbed a team high 7 rebounds as well as tallying 12 points and a couple of steals but it wasn’t enough to prevent Brown University going down to Yale 79-72 in Ivy League action. That’s five straight games in double figures for the former Junior Tall Fern.

Bubbling Under

 Tegan Graham scored 12 points including 2 from 3 from behind the arc and also corralled 5 rebounds as Colgate improved to 5-1 in the Patriot League after a 70-61 victory over Boston.

Kayla Manuirirangi scored 10 points as Tulane University defeated Cincinnati 64-59 to remain unbeaten (5-0) in the American Athletic Conference.

Zara Jillings played a nice supportive role in Fordham’s win at George Mason. If Heremaia was the stats stuffer in the game the former Westlake guard was a more gentle stats filler. Jillings ended up with 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and a block in just 13 minutes for the Rams.

Former Waikato and Melville High School standout Kaylee Smiler enjoyed a breakout performance in Brigham Young University’s (BYU) 65-55 win at St Mary’s, California on Sunday (NZT).

Smiler produced career-best numbers in points (19), rebounds (6) and steals (2.) In 29 minutes of action Smiler put on something of a shooting clinic making 7 from 9 from the field including an impressive 4 from 4 from beyond the arc.

“Kaylee had a great game for us today, what a way to step up when we needed her to. I’m very happy for her and all her hard work,” said BYU head coach Jeff Judkins about his freshman guard.

Prior to the game Smiler had been given limited opportunities to shine playing a total of 70 minutes in 14 appearances scoring 12 points.

You would imagine more minutes will be offered to Smiler during the remainder of her first season with the Cougars.

In a probable first for New Zealand basketball Angus McWilliam and Callum McRae were the two leading scorers for University of California Riverside Highlanders in the 80-68 loss to CSUN on Friday (NZ Time).

Cantabrian McWilliam led the Highlanders effort with 15 points (5/8FG) closely followed by McRae – the former Palmerston North Boys High centre scoring 14 points (6/11FG). McWilliam also topped the UCR rebounding count with 8 boards.

I will stand corrected but I believe it is the first time a pair of Kiwis have been the top two scorers in a single game for an NCAA Division I team.

McRae had an outstanding freshman season for the Highlanders in 2018-19 leading the team in field goal percentage (55.4%) averaging 7.6 points per game.

He is up to 9.3 points per game this season with his field goal percentage a slightly superior 56.3%. In addition he is averaging 6.3 rebounds per game.

After transferring from Texas Christian University midway through last season McWilliam has made every post a winner with the Highlanders.

He is averaging 7.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game but that doesn’t tell the full story. The power forward was granted his first start against California Lutheran University in early December and responded with 10 points and 9 rebounds in that game. Since then he has started six of the last ten games for Riverside averaging 10.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game during that period.

The ‘Mack-Attack’ pairing look certain to play key roles as Riverside look to build on their 2 wins and 1 loss start to Big West Conference play in the coming weeks.

Yanni Wetzell, senior at San Diego State University

Yanni Wetzell produced a couple of monster performances as San Diego remain unbeaten. He scored 17 points on a perfect 7 from 7 from the field as the Aztecs defeated Wyoming 72-52. He followed that with a career high equaling 20 points (9/12FG) and added 5 rebounds and 4 assists for the No7 ranked Aztecs. That’s the eleventh time this season the former Westlake big man has scored in double figures

Sam Waardenburg, junior at Miami University

Sam Waardenburg, far from fully fit with tendinitis in the knee, was still a force for Miami in their 74-58 road loss at Top 20 ranked Louisville. Waardenburg led the Miami defensive effort with 10 boards, a block and a steal in addition to scoring 5 points. The former Rangitoto College forward repeated the 10 rebound dose against Pittsburgh and the outcome was better as Miami won 66-58. Waardenburg played all 40 minutes and also notched 7 points, 3 assists and a couple of blocks. Miami now 2-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Dan Fotu, sophomore at St Mary’s College, California.

St Mary’s, California bounced back from the loss at Pacific that went to four periods of overtime with an 87-84 win against BYU. Again the tie went to overtime but this time St Mary’s were victorious, Dan Fotu playing a major hand as he accumulated 17 points (7/9FG), 5 rebounds, 2 steals and a block.

Angus McWilliam sophomore at University California Riverside

Cantabrian forward Angus McWilliam, with 11 points (5/5FG), 3 rebounds a block and a steal, helped UC Riverside to a 65-59 victory at UC Davis in there opening Big West Conference fixture. In an unusual coincidence the score was identical (65-59) 48 hours later when Riverside beat Cal State Fullerton – 8 points and 5 rebounds in that one for McWilliam.

Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa, senior at Sacramento State University.

A season high 6 assists to compliment 14 points (4/7 3PG), 2 rebounds, 1 block and a steal from Izayah Le’afa helped Sacramento State to a 71-57 win against Weber State. The Hornets are now 3-2 in Big Sky Conference play.

Bubbling Under

Matt Freeman scored 8 points and added 4 rebounds and a couple of assists as UC Santa Barbara opened Big West Conference play with a convincing 63-45 win against Cal Poly. It wasn’t such good news a couple of days later as the Gauchos lost 55-52 on their home patch to Long Beach State – 7 points for Freeman in that one.

Callum McRae had 6 points, 2 rebounds, a block and a steal to compliment Angus McWilliam as UC Riverside defeated Cal State Fullerton 65-59.

It’s nice to see Tobias Cameron back on court for Abilene Christian University. The Kiwi guard produced 5 points, 2 rebounds and an assist in ACU’s 88-84 loss to McNeese.

Still chasing a first Southland Conference win Houston Baptist Universityt lost 102-92 to Lamar with Jackson Stent making 5 points and pulling down 4 rebounds for HBU.