LACEY LOWDOWN

Tayla Dalton scored a career high 19 points to help carry Saint Mary’s College Gaels to an 82-63 win against Loyola Marymount in their West Coast Conference opener. Dalton made 5 threes, also a career high, passing 200 career points in the process.

Despite nursing a shoulder injury Jade Kirisome still came up with 5 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals for the Gaels.

St Mary’s have just 48 hours rest before taking on conference favourites BYU – potentially six Kiwis playing in that fixture.

Kruz Perrott-Hunt scored 19 points (8/18FG) and pulled down 6 rebounds as South Dakota beat Summit League rivals North Dakota 75-68.

Perrott-Hunt now has 417 career points, edging past Jack Salt (415 points) into 20^th spot on the New Zealand men’s NCAA Division I all-time scoring list.

Miami University’s winning streak ended at nine after they were pipped by two made free throws inside the final second of the game to lose 65-64 at Florida State.

Sam Waardenburg had 8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals and 2 assists for Miami who still head the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 5-1 record. 

10 points (5/9FG), 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals from Sam Mennenga helped propel Davidson College Wildcats to a 77-67 Atlantic 10 Conference victory against Massachusetts. Davidson off to a strong 3-0 start in A-10 play.

Despite some COVID related cancellations there are still plenty of good Kiwi performances to report on from the first few days of the second half of the 2021-22 Junior College season.

It’s been a great start to 2022 for Ash Strawbridge with a career high 21 points (9/14FG) for College of Southern Idaho in their 67-55 win against Utah State Eastern. Massive numbers for the Kiwis – Ash added 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal while Kyra Paniora had 6 points, 3 assists and a steal.

Ella Bradley was terrific in a losing cause – she filled the stats line with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and a steal for Utah State Eastern with Maclani Michael posting 5 points and 2 rebounds.

CSI then secured a commanding 112-33 win over Community Christian College – Paniora (9 points and 10 assists) and Strawbridge (11 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks) again prominent.

Those wins have pushed Southern Idaho up to a season high national ranking of sixth.

Cloud County have garnered two wins since the start of the New Year with Kay-Hauata Phillips and Te Araroa Sopoaga piling up the numbers.

Sopoaga averaged 13.5 points, 7.5rebounds, 4 assists, 2.5 steals and 2.5 blocks while Phillips averaged 9 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks across the two fixtures. 

In the 63-58 win against Garden City Olivia Collier-Tuipulotu had 4 points and 2 rebounds.

Keeley Tini has begun 2022 as she finished 2021 – in beast mode!

She secured another double-double as Williston State beat Dakota College at Bottineau 67-61, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Waiaaria Rogers scored a dozen points and added 5 rebounds and a couple of assists as Marshalltown were defeated 79-64 by Iowa Lakes. 

Parehuia Delamere posted 7 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists but Western Texas were defeated 66-48 by Odessa.

Tauranga’s Briarley Rogers claimed 6 points (2/2 3PG) in Weatherford’s 94-83 loss to Hill College.

Yzabelle Tevao mustered 4 points and 4 rebounds as McCook defeated Central 71-54. McCook have a real international flavour with players from Spain, Chile, Macedonia and Sweden as well as Yzabelle, the former Massey High standout.

Harata Coleman and Leata Te Nana-Williams both scored in double figures as Central Maine Mustangs crushed Suny Adirondack 74-19. Leata finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and a pair of steals while Harata amassed similar numbers – 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

In Men’s Junior College action Nico Hill had a productive outing as Missouri State-West Plains downed State Fair 89-75. The Taranaki guard finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

It was largely one way traffic as Midland College were thumped 99-54 by Clarendon but it didn’t stop Ollie Haywardalmost claiming a double-double. Ollie finished with 9 points, 9 rebounds and a couple of assists.

South Georgia Tech won a nail biter against South Georgia State with Nate Wilson contributing 9 points, 3 rebounds and a brace of blocks. He followed that with 8 rebounds and 5 points as SGT played out another one-pointer in a 62-61 loss to Southern Crescent Tech.

Kiani Saxon had 6 rebounds and 5 points as Louisiana State Eunice lost 80-68 to Southern Arkansas Tech.

Ezrah Vaigafa has started 2022 in style threatening a triple-double as he plundered 11 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists as Neosho County defeated McPherson 70-64.

We are used to Charlisse Leger-Walker heading the Washington State scoring but in the Cougars 60-52 loss at undefeated Arizona it was older sister Krystal that led the way with a dynamic 12 points (5/11FG), 9 rebounds and 6 assists performance.

Charlisse had 7 points – just the second time this season she has failed to score in double figures – and 6 rebounds.

Number 18 ranked BYU opened West Coast Conference play wit victories against San Francisco (76-64) and Pacific (94-68).

Against Pacific Tegan Graham, in her 136^th NCAA Division I appearance, had 15 points (5/9 3PG) and 5 assists. Arielle Mackey-Williams (3 points and 2 rebounds) and Kaylee Smiler (5 points and 2 rebounds) made contributions off the bench for BYU.

The 136^th appearance by Graham means she draws level with Jillian Harmon for the most NCAA Division I games played by a Kiwi.

Barring injury or covid interference she will hold the record outright when BYU host St Mary’s on January 13.

Also in the West Coast Conference Portland were defeated 76-65 by Gonzaga but not before Emme Shearer put up a career best 17 points (5/9FG). She also tallied a couple of rebounds and 3 steals in 24 minutes.

There was better news from the Big West Conference where Olivia Williams scored 12 points (5/10 FG, 2/2 3PG), one point shy of her season best, as UC Irvine defeated UC Davis 76-59.

Other Results:

USC 58 (Tera Reed 2 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist) Colorado 71

Wofford 72 (Helen Matthews 2 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists) Western Carolina 48

Georgia Southern 69 (Tsubasa Nisbett 1 rebound, 2 assists)  Coastal Carolina 72

In Men’s Division I action Callum McRae powered his way to a double-double of 12 points (6/8FG) and 12 rebounds as UC Riverside defeated UC San Diego 59-51. Flynn Cameron, also a starter for Riverside Highlanders, had 13 points, 4 rebounds and a couple of assists.

Abilene Christian 58 (Tobias Cameron 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists) Stephen F Austin 64

Charlisse and Krystal Leger-Walker showed they belong at the top table of women’s collegiate basketball in Washington State’s encounter with defending national champions University of Hartford.

Despite a sizeable 82-44 defeat the pair were the only Washington players in double figures with 15 points and 12 respectively. In addition, Krystal had 7 rebounds and 3 assists while Charlisse had 4 rebounds 2 steals and a block.

For Krystal it was her 125^th Division I game, drawing her level with Micaela Cocks (University of Oregon, 2006-10) and Ashleigh Karaitiana (University of Hawaii, 2012-16) – equal sixth on the NZ all-time list of NCAA Division I appearances.

Ahead of conference play Wofford College dominated Erskine 72-26 and although sophomore guard Helen Matthewsdidn’t score any points she did claim 8 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal.

Tara Manmaleuga had 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in Texas Christian’s 79-53 defeat at the hands of Southern Methodist. 

Taine Murray scored 7 points (3/5FG) as Virginia improved to 2-1 in the ACC with a 74-69 win at Syracuse. The freshman added an assist and a rebound.

Tobias Cameron had 4 points, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds as Abilene Christian improved to 2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference with a 64-50 victory against Dixie State. It was game number 90 in the Abilene purple for Cameron – the 16^thKiwi to play 90 games or more in NCAA Division I men’s basketball.

Amongst the ten Kiwi men playing Junior College hoops in 2020-21 fair to say Ollie Hayward, Nico Hill and Ezrah Vaigafa have enjoyed the most success to date this season.

Mandela Baledrokadroka (Sophomore at Tallahassee Community College)

The former Mt Albert Grammar and Waitakere guard has had little playing opportunity this season.

This season GP 5 GS 0 Points 2

Career GP 48 GS 21 Points 124

Daniel Christensen (Sophomore at Barstow College)

The former Taradale High School and Hawkes Bay wing has played 25 minutes so far this season.

This season GP 5 GS 0 Points 0

Career GP 18 GS 0 Points 11

Dallas Clayton (Freshman at Missouri State University West Plains)

Centre Dallas Clayton scored a season best 9 points against Kilgore College.

This season GP 15 GS 0 Points 25

Oliver Hayward (Freshman at Midland College)

The former Northcote College standout has enjoyed more basketball than most with Midland playing 15 games to date. Scored a game high 11 points twice.

This season GP 15 GS 10 Points 82 Rebounds 59

Nico Hill (Sophomore at Missouri State University West Plains)

The Opunake guard is the second highest scorer on the West Plains team – scored a career high 31 points against SEMO Prep making 6 from 9 three-pointers in the game.

This season GP 15 GS 14 Points 157 Rebounds 76

Career GP 61 GS 40 Points 424 rebounds 250

Matariki Kapea (Freshman at Bakersfield College)

The former Hutt Valley High School guard scored a season best 5 points against West Hills Lemoore.

This season GP 10 GS 2 Points 8

Kiani Saxon (Freshman at Louisiana State University, Eunice)

The 2021 Auckland Huskies forward scored a season high 7 points at Lee College in an injury interrupted early season.

This season GP 6 GS 3 points 24

Leo Wenham (Freshman at Southeast Community College)

The former Rosmini College forward scored his first collegiate points against Northeast Community College.

This season GP 5 GS 0 Points 2

Nathan Wilson (Freshman at South Georgia Technical College)

The former Mt Albert Grammar forward scored a season best 11 points against Franklin – has produced double figure rebounding performances on two occasions.

This season GP 14 GS 0 Points 57 Rebounds 68

Ezrah Vaigafa (Freshman at Neosho County Community College)

The 2021 Wellington Saint came within an assist of a triple-double against Ottawa finishing with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists.

This season GP 10 GS 10 Points 84 Rebounds 71 Assists 43

Numerous college games have been cancelled in the last few days as Covid sweeps across the American sporting landscape. Some fixtures did survive – here is a quick review of what has transpired in NCAA Division I hoops over the past three days.

Washington State dominated a short-handed University of California Berkeley to open Pac-12 play with a 69-42 victory on New Year’s Eve in Pullman, Washington.

With a game high 22 points Charlisse Leger-Walker passed 600 career points in just her 36th game. For good measure she also tallied 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

Not to be outdone Krystal L-W produced team highs in rebounds (6), assists (6) and steals (3) in addition to knocking down 3 from 5 from beyond the arc for 9 points. 

Next up for Washington State is a big test against #2/3 ranked Stanford.

Boise State will have to manage the remainder of the season without Kaitlin Burgess. The former Waitakere and Rangitoto College guard has unfortunately ruptured her ACL and will undergo an extensive period of rehab. 

Amiee Book’s 6 points, in Fresno State’s 73-63 loss to UNLV, took the Nelsonian past Brooke Blair’s 837 career points and up to 17^th on the all-time list of NZ scorers in NCAA Division I women’s basketball.

Georgia Southern Eagles opened Sun Belt Conference play with an 84-75 win against Arkansas State. Eagles co-captain Tsubasa Nisbett pulled down a season best 7 rebounds, including 3 offensive boards, to accompany 2 points and a dime.

Wofford College went down 72-62 to Tulane – Helen Matthews came up with 2 points and 5 rebounds for Wofford.

In men’s Division I play Dan Fotu filled the stats line with 6 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists and a block as St Mary’s California beat Yale 87-60 ahead of the start West Coast Conference play. Those 4 steals were a career best for Fotu.

Tobias Cameron scored 8 points as Abilene Christian overcame Utah Valley to win 80-60. The former Junior Tall Black knocked down 2 from 3 from beyond the arc as he passed the 200 career points mark. In addition he dished 4 assists and garnered a steal as Abilene won its inaugural game in the Western Athletic Conference.