LACEY LOWDOWN

The first Lowdown Team of the Week in NCAA Div I women’s basketball for 2020 is again headlined by former Waikato and St Peter’s School standout Kendell Heremaia

Kendell Heremaia, junior at Fordham University

Fordham University Rams got their Atlantic 10 Conference defence off to the best possible start with a 79-53 win against St Bonaventure. Once again Kendell Heremaia filled the stats line with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block – her third double-double of the season.

Akiene-Tera Reed, junior at Virginia Commonwealth University

Also registering  an Atlantic 10 Conference win were Akiene-Tera Reed and Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU gained a 75-54 away win at Rhode Island – Reed coming up with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Shalae Salmon, senior at BYU

Shalae Salmon came up with 4 rebounds and 4 blocks to go with a couple of blocks but BYU slipped to a second consecutive West Coast Conference loss going down 57-48 to Portland. The 4 blocks were a career high for the Wellingtonian.

Tegan Graham, senior guard at Colgate University

A week after posting a career high in steals (4) Colgate University guard produced a career-high equaling 7 assists as the Raiders won a high scoring affair against Army 100-93. Graham also scored 9 points and pulled down 4 boards.

Kayla Manuirirangi, senior guard at Tulane University

Taranaki native Kayla Manuirirangi followed up her season best 16 points last week with a team high 14 in the 61-56 win against Wichita State as the Green Wave opened American Athletic Conference play with a win.

Bubbling Under

Tsubasa Nisbett played her part in a little bit of history being made by Georgia Southern in their 83-67 win against Louisiana. Nisbett (7 points and 3 rebounds) scored a late three for  the Eagles – their 14^thof the game creating a new record high number of threes for the programme. GSU have opened Sun Belt Conference play with two straight wins.

Colorado University Buffaloes went to Oregon with an 12-0 record but were sent packing by the No 2 ranked Ducks 104-46. Freshman forward Charlotte Whittaker acquitted herself well in front of over 10,000 Ducks fans making 5 points in addition to 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a block.

Unfortunately Whittaker was sidelined with injury just three minutes into the Buffaloes next game – a 72-60 loss to #3 Oregon State.

Yanni Wetzell makes the Team of the Week as San Diego State climb into the NCAA Div I top ten as the latest rankings are released.

Read on to see who else makes the TOTW.

Yanni Wetzell, senior at San Diego State University

San Diego State jumped to #7 on the NCAA Div I rankings after a pair of wins against Fresno State (61-52) and Utah State (77-68). Yanni Wetzell came up with 5 points, 2 assists and a team high 8 rebounds against Fresno and 10 points and 5 boards against Utah.

San Diego (15-0) have made their best start to the season since 2010-11 when they had a certain Kawhi Leonard leading the Aztecs to the NCAA Tournament.

Angus McWilliam and Callum McRae, sophomores at University California Riverside

The Mack Attack of Angus McWilliam and Callum McRae struck again as UC Riverside comfortably beat San Diego Christian 89-51. McWilliam scored a career high 18 points (8/13FG) in just 19 minutes and also bagged 10 rebounds whilst McRae pitched in with 9 points and 5 rebounds.

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

Izayah Le’afa moved to seventh-best in Sacramento State programme history for three-points made (146) as SSU beat Idaho State 68-49.. He finished with 7 points, 4 assists and three steals. The Hornets are now 1-2 in Big Sky Conference play.

 Sam Waardenburg, junior at Miami University

Miami were given a punch on the nose by No2 ranked Duke going down 95-62 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. However Waardenburg was complimented by Duke’s legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski who commented, “The guy who is playing really well is Sam Waardenburg. He’s an x-factor.”

The former Rangitoto College star eclipsed 250 rebounds as a Hurricane and tallied his 11^thdouble figure points haul after finishing with 11 points and a team high 6 rebounds.

Bubbling Under

In a game that took four periods of overtime to settle St Mary’s Gaels lost 107-99 to Pacific. Dan Fotu scored 8 points but unfortunately fouled out early in the first overtime period.

Matt Freeman scored 8 points and added 5 rebounds and a brace of assists as UC Santa Barbara made it five wins on the bounce with a comfortable 87-66 victory over Westmont.

A third Kiwi with 8 points was Max de Geest who also added 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal as Long Beach State beat Cal State Los Angeles 76-60.

Portland are 1-1 in West Coast Conference play after defeating San Francisco 76-65. Former Auckland Grammar guard Taki Fahrensohn had 7 points, 3 assists and a steal for Portland. Fahrensohn will next face Dan Fotu and St Mary’s Gaels.

The Lowdown Team of the Week is dominated by former North Harbour representatives. Wellingtonian Izayah Le’afa breaks the northern domination with his fine performance otherwise the accolades fall the way of a couple of Westlakers and two Rangitoto College alumni.

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

Promoted to a starting spot Dan Fotu responded in style scoring a career high 17 points as St Mary’s triumphed 84-58 against Seattle.

Playing in the unaccustomed role of centre Fotu was 7 from 9 from the field and 3 from 3 from the foul line whilst also adding 5 rebounds. “We know as a team that wins are what matters most so adjusting positions is just part of what we are willing to do to get the win,” said Fotu after the game.

Matt Freeman, senior at University California Santa Barbara

Matt Freeman scored a career high 21 points (7/10FG, 6/7FT) as University California Santa Barbara defeated Merrimack College 68-50. The former Westlake wing also came up with 7 rebounds, an assist and a steal as the Gauchos improved to 9-4 ahead of conference play. In a profitable week for Freeman he scored 16 points in the 85-77 win against Louisiana as the Gauchos improved to 10-4.

Sam Waardenburg, junior at Miami University

A third career high was set by Sam Waardenburg as he posted his first double-double for Miami in their 91-60 demolition of Coppin State. He scored a career high 15 points and corralled a career high equaling 11 rebounds. The former Rangitoto College forward made 6 of 8 from the field including 3 from 5 from three-point range.

Yanni Wetzell, senior at San Diego State University

Wetzell posted 12 points, 8 rebounds and a brace of steals as San Diego State remained unbeaten this season with a 73-57 win against Cal Poly.

Izayah Le’afa, senior at Sacramento State University

Izayah Le’afa made a free throw for Sacramento State to tie proceedings with 5 seconds to play against Montana but Montana scored on the last possession to win 52-50. Le’afa scored 8 points and added 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals but Sacramento have started Big Sky Conference play with two losses.

Bubbling Under

Taki Fahrensohn scored 9 points (4/9FG) but Portland fell 61-46 to Ball State at the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii.

Callum McRae posted 7 points and 5 rebounds whilst Angus McWilliam had 8 points and 2 boards but it was of little consequence as UC Riverside were bombarded 105-56 by Air Force.

Also with 8 points (3/3FG) was Jackson Stent as Houston Baptist went down 107-88 at New Mexico.

As 2019 wound down there were a number of standout performances by Kiwi women, playing NCAA Division I basketball, in the final week of the year. Kendell Heremaia led the Lowdown Team of the Week with Akiene-Tera Reed, McKenna Dale, Tegan Graham and Kayla Manuirirangi completing the five.

Kendell Heremaia, junior at Fordham University

Heremaia was in imperious form as hosts Fordham Rams won the Holiday Classic with a 63-54 win against Houston in the Bronx.

Heremaia was named Atlantic 10 Player of the week after a pair of games at the Classic where she lit up proceedings. Having scored 21 points against Stamford the previous day she averaged 16.5 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists over 31 minutes on consecutive days.

Akiene-Tera Reed, junior at Virginia Commonwealth University

Despite a career high 29 points (7/16FG) performance from Akiene-Tera Reed Virginia Commonwealth went down 69-58 to North Carolina A&T.

Reed scored 22 of her points in the second half and also added 5 rebounds and a pair of steals. She leads the VCU scoring averaging 14.4 points per game.

McKenna Dale, junior guard at Brown University

Dale finished 2019 in style banking double figures, including a career high 19 points, in her last four games for Brown University before their New Year break. Dale had her career first double-double (17 points and 12 rebounds) against FIU. Brown begin Ivy League play on January 17 at Yale.

Tegan Graham, senior guard at Colgate University

Colgate University wound up non-conference play with a 74-58 win at Wagner. Graham not only came up with 13 points (5/9FG) for the Raiders in the win but also captured a career high 4 steals.

Kayla Manuirirangi, senior guard at Tulane University

Manuirirangi, the former New Plymouth Girls High standout, led the way for Tulane Green Wave with 16 points (a season best) in the 56-40 win against Georgia Southern. The senior guard knocked down 4 threes in that tally.

In the same game Cantabrian Tsubasa Nisbett contributed 3 points and 3 rebounds for Georgia in just her second start for the Eagles.

Bubbling Under

Pareunora Pene scored a season best 7 points in 24 minutes as Chattanooga went down 70-58 to Ohio in their final game of 2019.

Shalae Salmon came up with 4 rebounds and 8 points as BYU beat Loyola Marymount 59-44.

Colorado, currently an impressive 12-0, won their opening Pac 12 encounter against Utah 80-70. Charlotte Whittaker had 5 points, 3 rebounds and a block in the win.

Katelin Noyer produced 6 points and 3 rebounds as Fresno State outclassed UC Merced 92-26.