Yanni Wetzell, becoming Breaker #130, scored 18 points on debut against South East Melbourne Phoenix.
This is the third-highest scoring effort by a New Zealand born Breaker behind Kirk Penney (23 points v West Sydney Razorbacks in October 2007) and Phill Jones (20 points v Adelaide 36ers in October 2003).
With 3 rebounds against South East Melbourne Phoenix Finn Delany moved ahead of Oscar Forman (593 rebounds) on the club’s all-time rebounding list – up to 10th spot.
Will McDowell-White scored a career high 27 points (10/14FG, 7/9 3PG) and also tallied 7 assists against the Adelaide 36ers.
Only one other Breaker has had 7 assists and 7 made threes in a single game. Aaron Olson, in February 2007, made 7 threes and dished 9 dimes against West Sydney Razorbacks.
Also, against the 36ers Isaac Davidson scored 3 points in his first appearance of the season.
20 year-old Hugo Besson leads the Breakers scoring after the first two rounds of the season. The Frenchman has 61 points and sits sixth on the NBL leaderboard averaging 20.3ppg.
He is the only player in the NBL that has scored 20-points in consecutive games this season so far with 26 points against the Phoenix and 25 points against the 36ers.
Kendell Heremaia piled on 18 points (6/11FG) as Fordham dominated Lafayette to win 71-36. That’s the 1,100-career points mark reached by Heremaia, going past former Tall Fern Jillian Harmon (1,096 points), and up to ninth on the all-time list of New Zealand Division I (Women) scorers.
Travelling cross-country from California to the east coast St Mary’s Gaels found it hard going against Number 2 ranked North Carolina State going down 101-73 against the Wolfpack.
The Kiwi trio at St Mary’s stood up against the quality opposition – Jade Kirisome came up with a season high 17 points (7/11FG, 3/5 3PG), Tayla Dalton scored 9 points (4/8FG) and Amy West finished with 5 points and 6 rebounds.
The Gaels followed that with a game winning shot on the buzzer to pip Coastal Carolina 61-58; 11 points and 4 rebounds for Dalton in that one.
Helen Matthews scored 9 points (plus 3 rebounds and an assist) as Wofford Terriers defeated Appalachian State 78-65.
Underlining his immense value to South Dakota Kruz Perrott-Hunt remained on court for the final 10 minutes against Bellarmine despite being on 4 fouls. Perrott-Hunt made 19 points (3/5 3PG, 8/8 FT), 7 rebounds and 4 assists as he led the Coyotes to a 78-64 victory in their last non-conference fixture.
Keeley Tini threatened another double-double as Williston State eased past Dickinson State 75-54. The ex-Westlake standout secured 9 rebounds to go with 21 points making 8 from 14 from the field and 5 from 6 from the charity stripe. Tini is only 10 points shy of 200 points for the season.
Samantha Jenkins is even closer to the 200 mark after she scored 12 points, and snaffled 5 steals, as Dawson College proved too good for Dickinson State winning 73-45. Jenkins is now on 194 points from 14 games – the leading Kiwi scorer in Division I Junior College Women’s basketball.
Waiaaria Rogers put together her best scoring game of the season in Marshalltown’s 95-67 loss to North Iowa Area. The former Rangitoto College sharp-shooter dropped 4 from 7 from beyond the arc on her way to 14 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists.
Cloud College were outscored 23-13 in the final quarter and fell 71-58 at #14 Butler.
Kay-Hauata Phillips was one of three Cloud players in double figures with 10 points to accompany 7 rebounds and 1-each if assists, blocks and steals. Te Araroa Sopoaga (6pts/5rebs/5assists/1block/3steals) also filled the a box score line while Te Oriwa Tuipolotu had 2 points and a rebound.
Sopoaga, averaging 3 steals per game, is in the top 20 in the country for that statistical category as is Western Texas guard Parehuia Delamere.
Rashaan Smith scored 8 points as #10 Western Nebraska proved way too good for Central Wyoming winning 92-53 to move to 12-1 this season. Back from injury Izzy Cook scored 4 points and grabbed a brace of rebounds.
Also returning from injury was Briarley Rogers in Weatherford’s 75-61 loss to Midland. Briarley knocked down 2 of 3 three-pointers for 6 points in her first game back after five weeks on the sideline.
Co-captain Safena Te Nana-Williams had a game high 5 assists to go with 8 points and 2 steals as Central Maine beat Bryant and Stratton 78-75 despite being outscored 24-9 in the final quarter. Leta Te Nana-Williams and Harata Coleman chipped in with 3 and 2 points respectively.
22nd ranked Casper College are on a six-game win streak after defeating Allen County 66-44. DejaanSchuler came up with 6 points (2/2 3PG) for the T-Birds
Maclani Michael came up with 6 points and 5 rebounds as Utah State Eastern beat Southern Nevada 79-60.
Southern Idaho are now 11-1 after defeating Colorado Northwestern 82-58. Southern Idaho are ranked #9 – the highest placed team with Kiwi players. Kyra Paniora (4pts/5rebs/2 assists) and Ashlee Strawbridge(4pts/5rebs/2assists) both started for the Golden Eagles against Northwestern.
It was tough going for Dodge City as they went down 78-45 to #25 ranked Hutchinson.
Jenna Rose Mafua will have taken heart from her 4 points, 5 assists and impressive 5 steals against highly ranked opposition
Rosie Campbell contributed 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 rebounds as Southeast beat Union 97-35.
In Men’s action Nico Hill came up with 9 points and 4 rebounds but Missouri State–West Plains went down 87-73 to Midland.
Nate Wilson was busy in South Georgia Tech’s narrow 84-78 loss to Florida Southwestern State. Nate came up with 9 rebounds, 3 points, a couple of rebounds and a block.
Brigham Young University (BYU) may have suffered its first loss of the season going down 99-91 at Oklahoma in overtime on Saturday (NZT) but the game will long be remembered for the shooting performance by Kiwi Tegan Graham.
Graham is in her second season with the Cougars having previously made 98 appearances for Colgate University. A renowned perimeter shooter she sits 6th on Colgate’s All-time 3-Point field goal percentage (34%).
However nothing she has done before compares with her performance against Oklahoma as she made TEN shots from behind the arc from 17 attempts (59%) for a career high 30 points.
Those 30 points also took Graham past 100 points for the season and 1,000 career points – the 17th New Zealander to score over one thousand NCAA Division I points.
Even elite shooter Kirk Penney didn’t make that many triples in a single game during his illustrious college career with the Wisconsin Badgers.
Not surprisingly the former Wellington Girl’s College and New Zealand age-group representative has set an all-time record for the number of threes made in a single game in BYU Women’s basketball programme history. It’s also the highest number of threes made in NCAA Division I basketball by a Kiwi – a record that is likely to stand for a very long time.
BYU now get a week off before entertaining Washington State University and the Ledger-Walker sisters Krystal and Charlisse in an intriguing match-up.
With 18 points in the NBL season opener against South East Melbourne Phoenix Finn Delany moved ahead of Oscar Forman (1,265 points) into 13th spot on the Sky Sport Breakers all-time scoring list.
Delany now has 1,276 points with Paul Henare (1,320 points) the next player in his sights.
Another 1 rebound will also carry Delany ahead of Forman (593 rebounds) on the all-time rebounding list – up to 10thspot.
Hopefully Yanni Wetzell will be fit to debut on Friday and become Breaker #130.
Wetzell played in all 39 games for South East Melbourne last season but ironically had to sit out the game against his former teammates last Saturday.
This is the third season running the Breakers have played the same opponent twice in the opening two games of the season. In 2019 they faced Sydney Kings twice in three days to open proceedings and last season it was back-to-back games against Adelaide 36ers. All four of these games were lost!
The absence of Dan Shamir from the opening game is the second occasion a Breakers Head Coach has been too unwell to take his spot on the sideline.
Back in January 2015 Dean Vickerman was taken to his sick bed for the fixture in Wollongong against Illawarra and his then assistant Paul Henare was the man to take charge.
Breakers squeezed home 86-84 in that one with Ikene Ibekwe, Tai Wesley, Corey Webster, Mika Vukona, Rhys Carter and Tom Abercrombie all making double figure contributions.
Kendell Heremaia made a lay-up with two seconds remaining on the clock to steal a 65-63 win for Fordham in the Battle of the Bronx rivalry game against Manhattan.
Entering the contest Heremaia had racked up 1,072 points, 680 rebounds, 279 assists, and 120 steals during her Fordham career to-date with only six other Rams have reached the 1,000-point, 500-rebound, 200-assist, 100-steal plateaus.
The former Waikato standout added to those numbers with 16 points, 9 rebounds and an assist in 31 minutes against Manhattan. Her tally of 1,088 career points moved her ahead of Josie Stockill (1,081 points) into 11th on the all-time list of New Zealand scorers in Women’s NCAA Division I play. Two more points and Heremaia will move into the Top-10 ahead of Tessa Boagni (1,089 points).
Charlisse Leger-Walker had scored 10-or-more points in 28 of her career 31 games played. That number increased to 29 as Washington State, in front of a big crowd in the ‘Kennel’, beat Gonzaga Bulldogs 51-49.
However it wasn’t her 14 points that stood out in this one but the critical defensive rebound she secured amongst Gonzaga’s tall timber, with 5 seconds left on the clock and her team ahead by just a single point (50-49). That critical rebound and a free-throw that followed secured the win.
Playing all 40 minutes Charlisse added 4 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists and a block to her 14 points while Krystal Leger-Walker also had 4 steals to accompany 2 points plus threes in assists and rebounds.
Helen Matthews enjoyed herself as Wofford Terriers terrorised Brevard College to win 101-37. Matthews made a season best 14 points (6/8FG) to add to 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and a block.
Other Results:
Colorado State 73 (Jess Moors 1pt, 3rebs) Weber State 60
Yuat Alok scored a career high 19 points (9/13FG) as New Mexico State won 78-76 in overtime on the home court of fierce rivals New Mexico on Monday (NZT). Alok scored six of the Aggies 10 overtime points and also added 4 rebounds, 4 assists and a blocked shot.
Back in 2017 Alok was rated the third best Junior College recruit after two standout years at Chipola College. However, since then his college career has had a number of false starts but perhaps this performance will spur him to greater heights.
He played just 10 games for Texas Christian University in 2018 then next appeared in Coppin State colours for the 2020-21 season where in 11 games (all as a starter) he averaged a more than useful 9.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
Now Alok has landed at his third Division I college in as many years with his career performance against New Mexico perhaps a sign of the 6’11” centre’s potential coming to fruition.
Alok first made a name for himself at Selwyn College before moving across the Harbour Bridge to Rangitoto College where he formed a formidable front court pairing with Tai Wynyard.
He also caught the eye of the Breakers and was signed as a Development Player for the 2014/15 NBL season.
Aged 17 he moved to the States where he played at Impact Academy in Sarasota, Florida before embarking on his collegiate journey.
Another former Breakers DP has seen his hot scoring streak come to an end as South Dakota went down 74-69 against Northern Colorado.
Kruz Perrott-Hunt had scored in double figures in five straight games and was averaging 14.6ppg but had just 5 points in this one (plus 3 rebounds and an assist) as the Coyotes slip to 5-4.
Tera Reed delivered season high points (15), rebounds (9) and assists (5) but couldn’t prevent University Southern California falling 78-63 to San Francisco.
14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and a steal from Kendell Heremaia helped propel Fordham to a 76-67 victory over Princeton ahead of the Battle of the Bronx against Manhattan on Thursday (NZT).
Other Results:
Boise State 76 (Kaitlin Burgess 9pts, 5rebs) Florida Atlantic 64
Virginia 62 (McKenna Dale 2pts, 1reb) George Washington 53
Reunited (L-R) Keeley Tini, Molly Cockburn, Rashaan Smith
Former Harbour and Birkenhead College forward bettered her career high twice in 24 hours. Parehuia Delamere also posted a career high while College of Southern Idaho Eagles (Ashlee Strawbridge and Kyra Paniora) are up to #9 on the JUCO ranking list.
Rashaan Smith lined up against former Harbour teammate Keeley Tini as Williston State and #10 Western Nebraska faced off on Saturday. Predictably Western Nebraska took the win (99-59) with Smith posting a career high 14 points on 6 from 8 from the field. Tini finished with 5 points and 5 rebounds.
The pair were playing at the Border Wars Tournament, as were Dejaan Schuler (Casper College), Samantha Jenkins (Dawson College) and Molly Cockburn (Miles CC).
The next day Smith improved her career best to 18 points (8/10FG) as Cockburn and Miles College were dominated 101-28. Despite the overwhelming defeat Cockburn can take credit for posting a team high 8 points.
Jenkins also scored 8 points as Dawson fell 86-61 to Casper with Schuler making a 3-pointer for the #22 ranked T-Birds.
Jenkins was back in double-digit mode on Sunday, tallying 12 points (4/9 3PG) as Dawson got the better of Western Wyoming (52-43).
Parehuia Delamere put in a monster performance for Western Texas College. She had a career high 20 points (8/13FG, 4/6 3PG) accompanied by 12 rebounds in a commanding 71-34 win against Dawson. Jordyn Maddix chipped in with 4 points and 7 rebounds.
Kay-Hauata Phillips and Te Araroa Sopoaga continued their free scoring form even though Cloud College were beaten 90-80 by Seward. Sopoaga top scored with 20 points (9/16FG) with Phillips adding 6 rebounds to 15 points.
In a bounce back 70-53 win against Pratt College Sopoaga filled the stats line with 14 points 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and a block. Remarkably she leads Cloud in all five of the afore mentioned stat categories.
Southern Idaho put the defensive freeze on Snow College in the opening quarter to set up a 69-56 victory. Ashlee Strawbridge recorded 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals while Kyra Paniora had 4 points plus a couple of assists and steals. Southern Idaho now into the Top-10 on the National Rankings sitting at #9.
Jenna Rose Mafua totalled 6 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals as Dodge City beat Garden City 51-3
Twins Safena and Leata Te Nana-Williams both scored in double figures as Central Maine defeated Berkeley 90-61. The former St Mary’s College, Ponsonby pair were at their stats stuffing best – Safena tallied 16 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 5 steals while Leata had 10 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
In Men’s action Ollie Hayward tallied 5 points and 3 rebounds as Midland College improved to 9-3 (2-0 in Conference play) with a 60-57 win against Howard College.
Nico Hill was a point shy of a double-double as Missouri State – West Plains won a nail biter against Three Rivers 77-75. The Taranaki guard finished with 10 rebounds and 9 points.
Nate Wilson had 8 points on 4 from 5 shooting but South Georgia Tech are on a 5-game losing slide after a 75-71 defeat against Gulf Coast State.
After incurring an early season injury Louisiana State Eunice forward Kiani Saxon is working himself back into the rotation. He has started the last three games averaging 5 points, 3 rebounds and a block while enjoying 26 minutes per game.
Sam Waardenburg connected with 4-of-7 from beyond the arc as Miami beat Clemson 80-75 to open Atlantic Coast Conference play.
The former Junior Tall Black finished with a career best 18 points with Miami Coach Jim Larranaga full of praise for his Grad Senior.
“I think Sam Waardenburg’s performance going 6-of-10 from the field with 18 points, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal and 2 blocks is one of the best front court performances we have had in quite a while.”
Tobias Cameron also had a career night as Abilene Christian thumped Incarnate Word 98-65. Cameron made all five of his 3-point shots to finish with a career best 17 points.
Kruz Perrott-Hunt scored a dozen points as South Dakota gave Waldorf a toweling winning a one-sided contest 93-37. That’s five straight games in double figures for SDU’s leading scorer.
Both St Mary’s Gaels Men’s and Women’s teams were in action on Sunday and there was a Kiwi connection on all four teams involved.
The Gaels Women entertained Amiee Book and Fresno State and aided by a defensive spark from Tayla Daltonemerged 79-64 victors. Dalton had 3 rebounds, 3 steals and a block to go with 11 points. Jade Kirisome was also in double figures with a dozen (10/12FT) while Amy West tallied 4 rebounds, a steal and a point.
Book scored three points on one made triple for Fresno State.
Unfortunately for St Mary’s Men their leading scorer this season Dan Fotu (4 points and 2 rebounds) fouled out in just 7 minutes and his absence from meaningful minutes contributed to the Gaels getting outgunned by Colorado State 74-58. James Moors came up with a steal for unbeaten Colorado State (9-0).
Other Men’s Results:
Davidson 70 (Sam Mennenga 2pts, 6rebs, 2a) William & Mary 46
New Mexico State 72 (Yuat Alok 2pts, 1reb) UTEP 69
#21 ranked BYU had to stave off a 4th quarter comeback from Utah before prevailing 85-80. Tegan Graham had 9 points, a season best 8 assists and 6 rebounds for BYU who may move further up the rankings after win number eight.
Washington State had little trouble dispatching UC Davis winning 71-49. Charlisse Leger-Walker posted 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting whilst also registering a pair of blocks and quadruple rebounds and assists.
Sister Krystal L-W posted 11 points, 5’s in rebounds and assists plus singles in blocks and steals.
Other Women’s Results:
St Peter’s New Jersey 77 (Victoria Ikenasio 6pts, 4rebs) Delaware State 50
Charlisse Leger-Walker produced a season best 27 points (5/10 3PG) as Washington State downed San Francisco 72-58. Making her 30th consecutive start she also produced 2 blocks and 3 steals.
Krystal Leger-Walker was also piling on the numbers lining up 7 points, 6 rebounds and a team high 5 dimes – Krystal has produced at least 1 assist in 45 consecutive games.
Those 27 points mean sophomore CL-W has already passed 500 NCAA Division I career points. Put into perspective that mark has only been reached by 31 Kiwi women with the young Tall Fern taking the least number of games to reach the 500 mark.
Playing a game high 35 minutes Tera Reed finished with 9 points (3/5FG), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, a block and a steal (with zero turnovers) as USC defeated UC Irvine 79-68. Freshman Olivia Williams had 4 rebounds and 2 points for UCI.
Other Women’s Results:
Fresno State 72 (Amiee Book 3pts, 3rebs, 1 block) California Berkeley 73
In Men’s Division I action Miami University Hurricanes were paced by Sam Waardenburg’s 14 points as they beat Penn State 63-58 in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The former Rangitoto College forward made 5 from 11 from the field, 4 from 8 from beyond the arc and also came up with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Callum McRae scored 12 points (6/7FG) and Flynn Cameron 9 points as UC Riverside lost a tight contest at Oregon Ducks 71-65. In his 49th start for UCR McRae also came up with 4 rebounds and a block.
Colorado State made it 8 straight wins after having little trouble with Little Rock winning 86-55. James Moors scored 8 points on 4 from 5 shooting and also snared 3 rebounds.
Also with 8 points, plus 5 rebounds and a block, was Dan Fotu as Saint Mary’s Gaels (8-1) won at the death at Utah State 60-58.
LACEY LOWDOWN 