LACEY LOWDOWN

College of Southern Idaho beat Snow 63-57 to win the Region 18 Championship on Saturday and advance to the NJCAA (Junior College) National Tournament.

Ashlee Strawbridge finished with a team high 7 rebounds to accompany 4 points and 2 steals while Kyra Panioracontributed 2 points and 2 rebounds.

In Friday’s semi-final no fewer than five Kiwis were in action with Utah State Eastern’s trio of Ella Bradley, Maclani Michael and Brooklyn Pouwhare facing Strawbridge and Paniora.

It was top seed Southern Idaho that prevailed 67-53 with Strawbridge contributing 9 points and 4 rebounds backed up by 6 points and a couple of assists from Paniora.

For Utah State Eastern Bradley had 7 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists with Michael adding a couple of points and Pouwhare a rebound. 

Central Maine Community College Mustangs point guard Safena Te Nana-Williams, named to the Yankee Small College All-Conference team earlier in the week, had 8 points, 4 steals and 3 rebounds as her team beat Southern Maine 57-50 to win the Conference Final. Sister Leata Te Nana-Williams finished with 10 points and deuces in rebounds and steals. Taranaki’s Harata Coleman was also a member of the championship winning Mustangs.

In Junior College Region XIII quarter-finals Molly Cockburn scored 12 points, to go with 5 rebounds and 3 steals, but couldn’t prevent Miles being eliminated 71-48 by Dawson. Samantha Jenkins tallied 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a couple of points for Dawson.

Jenkins scored 3 points as Dawson were beaten 76-60 by North Dakota State College of Science in the regional semi-finals.

In another Region XIII quarter-final Keeley Tini was prominent as Williston State advanced with a comfortable 73-46 victory against Lake Region State. Tini finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.

The former Harbour Breeze forward was even more influential in the 64-61 semi-final win over Bismarck. Tini posted a massive double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Jenna Rose Mafua had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists as Dodge City defeated Cloudy County 70-62 in the opening round of the Region 6 play-offs – another contest with plenty of New Zealand involvement.

Cloud County boast three Kiwis – Kay-Hauata Phillips and Te Araroa Sopoaga both scored 12 points, with Phillips adding 7 rebounds and 2 assists while Sopoaga had 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Te Oriwa Tuipolotu is the third Kiwi on the Cloud team.

Yzabelle Tevao captured 6 points and rebounds as McCook gained a 55-43 victory at Lamar in the first round of the Region 9 play-offs. Next up for Tevao and McCook are highly fancied Casper College with Dejaan Schuler in their lineup.

Western Texas wrapped up their season with a 53-42 defeat of Cisco. Jordyn Maddix finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists while Parehuia Delamere climbed into 10 rebounds, 3 steals, 6 points and a couple of assists.

Marshalltown completed their season on a high defeating Ellsworth 74-56. Waiaaria Rogers starred in the win with 16 points (5/10FG, 5/6FT), 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals.

In Men’s Junior College action Dallas Clayton scored 10 points (4/5FG) as fourth seeded Missouri State-West Plains were defeated 96-53 by State Fair in the Junior College Region 16 play-offs.

Nate Wilson dropped 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in 15 minutes as South Georgia Tech beat Andrew College 88-59.

Ollie Hayward had 6 points and 3 rebounds as Midland College brought down the curtain on their season with a 94-62 loss to South Plains.

Ezrah Vaigafa had 6 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists as Neosho County won an exciting encounter with Labette 85-83

In Men’s NCAA Division I play an And-1 play from Calum McRae carried UC Riverside to overtime after they trailed UC Santa Barbara 71-68 with under 30 seconds to play. Despite Riverside eventually losing 97-90 in double OT McRae went on to post a career high 32 points to accompany 11 rebounds. Flynn Cameron finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds.

Sam Mennenga top scored with 17 points as Davidson proved too good for Fordham winning 66-45. In a strong all-round performance Mennenga grabbed 5 offensive rebounds in an overall tally of 9 and made 9 from 10 free-throws.

Zach Riley had 3 points and an assist for Fordham.

Tobias Cameron had 10 points and 6 rebounds as Abilene Christian came up just short against Stephen F Austin losing 73-71.

Sam Waardenburg had 10 points and a trio of rebounds and assists but Miami were pipped at the post by Virginia Tech 71-70 to fall to 12-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. 

Kruz Perrott-Hunt tucked away a pair of free-throws in the closing seconds of the game to ice a 92-87 South Dakota win against Oral Roberts in Summit League play. Perrott-Hunt finished with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.

In Women’s NCAA Division I action BYU wrapped up the West Coast Conference (WCC) regular season title with an 82-52 thumping of Pacific. Playing her 149^th NCAA Division I game Tegan Graham finished with 12 points and 5 assists, Arielle Mackey-Williams scored seven and Kaylee Smiler 4 points for the champions.

Also in the WCC Tayla Dalton improved her career mark for the second time in three days. After 20 points against Pacific, she scored to 22 points as St Mary’s won 92-88 in overtime at San Francisco. Dalton, who had 5 of her points in the overtime period, also totaled 6 rebounds and a couple of steals.  Amy West secured 7 rebounds to accompany 3 assists and 2 points in the win.

Washington State led by 21 points with under five minutes to play but had to withstand a late run by California before prevailing 73-67.

Charlisse Leger-Walker led the scoring with 21 points, passing 900 career points in the process, and also notched 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists and a pair of blocks.

Krystal Leger-Walker only had the one point but did dish a season high 9 assists.

Kendell Heremaia’s 9 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists helped Fordham get past Davidson 68-57 to improve to 8-6 in the Atlantic-10 Conference.

Emme Shearer handed 5 assists, scored 4 points and added 3 steals as Portland enjoyed a comfortable 85-49 win to finish the West Coast Conference regular season 12-4.

Amiee Book made 4 from 5 from deep as Fresno State flew past Air Force 75-67. Book finished with 12 points and 4 rebounds. 

Having missed the last couple of games Helen Matthews returned to the Wofford lineup and registered 6 points and a brace of steals and rebounds in the 84-75 defeat of Tennessee Chattanooga. The win gives Wofford an 11-3 Southern Conference record and number two seeding at the upcoming championship tournament.

Pare Pene and Chattanooga finish the regular season with a 5-9 record.

Tera Reed had a team high 7 rebounds to go with 6 points and 4 assists as Southern California were defeated 68-59 by Arizona.

UC Irvine 70 (Olivia Williams, 2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) Long Beach State 47

Houston Baptist 58 (Lauryn Mapusua 8 points, 2 rebounds) A&M Corpus Christi 54

Florida International 69 (Grace Hunter 4 points, 3 rebounds) Old Dominion 81

Texas Christian 42 (Tara Manumaleuga 7 points, 3 steals) Texas 77

In other news Central Maine Community College Mustangs point guard Safena Te Nana-Williams, named to the Yankee Small College All-Conference team earlier in the week, had 8 points, 4 steals and 3 rebounds as her team beat Southern Maine 57-50 to win the Conference Final. Sister Leata Te Nana-Williams finished with 10 points and deuces in rebounds and steals.

In NAIA action former St Peter’s School, Cambridge forward Dominique Stephens posted 13 points and 4 rebounds in the semi-final of the Frontier Conference Tournament. Her contribution helped Rocky Mountain overcome Montana Tech 71-39.

Despite a massive double-double from Corey Le’aupepe Menlo College were defeated 84-78 by William Jessup University in NAIA play-off action. Le’aupepe produced a game high 21 points (7/11FG, 7/7FT) and a team high 10 rebounds in the loss.

Earlier in the week the former St Pat’s Town forward was named to the Golden State Athletic All-Conference Team after averaging 13.5 points per game, shooting 60.3% from the field in the process, during the regular season.

The Milligan University Buffaloes also fell at the first hurdle of NAIA play-off action, defeated 81-73 by Truett McConnell despite a team high 20 points from Finn McClure (4/9 3PG). 

He didn’t appear in the above contest but Piripi Korent was named to the Appalachian Conference All-Freshman Team after averaging 8.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists in his first season with Milligan.

In the NCAA Division I UC Riverside (UCR) centre Callum McRae was named Big West Conference Player of the Week after averaging 15 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists across a pair of games. To celebrate McRae posted a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead UCR to a 79-57 win against CSU Northridge. Flynn Cameron was also busy with 13 points and 4 assists.

Kruz Perrott-Hunt’s run of games scoring double figure points came to an end at fourteen consecutive as South Dakota were defeated 72-63 by Kansas City. It was a close thing however as the former Rosmini College standout posted 9 points to go with 5 rebounds and a couple of assists.

Tobias Cameron was another former Junior Tall Black with 9 points as Abilene Christian dominated Lamar 77-42. Cameron also snared 3 steals and 4 rebounds.

St Mary’s 60 (Dan Fotu 6 points, 2 rebounds) San Diego 47

Grace Hunter and Tayla Dalton were in career best form in women’s NCAA Division I play.

Hunter  scored a career high 23 points, topping 200 points for the season, as Florida International fell 65-55 to Charlotte.

Dalton ran up 20 points (4/7 3PG) as St Mary’s California accounted for Pacific 83-67. Amy West had a couple of blocks to go with 4 points and 4 rebounds in the West Coast Conference (WCC) win.

Tegan Graham equalled her career high in assists with 8 as BYU thumped Santa Clara 103-66. Graham scored 9 points and Kaylee Smiler chipped in with seven as BYU remained top of the WCC standings at 14-1.

Washington State gave it a decent nudge at #2 Stanford before going down 61-54. Charlisse Leger-Walker scored a game high 17 points plus 4 rebounds and a couple of steals while Krystal L-W had an industrious 9 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

Tera Reed also scored 17 points, including three baskets in the final two minutes, as University of Southern California scored a triple on the buzzer to beat Arizona State 60-58. Reed was a highly efficient 7 from 9 from the field including 2 from 2 from beyond the arc.

The Tall Fern wing now has 1,611 Division I career points and closing in on Erin Rooney’s 1,647 all-time record.

Portland 53 (Emme Shearer 8 points, 3 steals, 4 rebounds) San Diego 61 

UC Irvine 54 (Olivia Williams 7pts, 2 rebs, 2 assists, 1 steal) California State Fullerton 51

Virginia 57 (McKenna Dale 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assists) North Carolina 68

Georgia Southern 83 (Tsubasa Nisbett 3 points, 5 rebounds) Louisiana Monroe 68

Amiee Book scored a season high 20 points as Fresno State squeezed past New Mexico 71-70 to improve to 6-9 in Mountain West Conference play. The Nelsonian wing was 6 from 11 from 3-point range.

Fordham University trailed Richmond by 30 points midway through the third period fighting back before going down 79-69 with Kendell Heremaia scoring 10 points to accompany 3 steals, 2 blocks, an assists and 2 rebounds as she once again filled the stats line.

Heremaia, now with 304 career assists (11th-most all-time for Fordham), is one of just two Rams to reach 1,000 career points, 700 career rebounds, 300 dimes, and 100 steals – she also has 143 steals over 141 career appearances and 113 starts, the latter two numbers ranking solo 2nd and T-3rd all-time.

Texas Christian 57 (Tara Manumaleuga 5 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal) Oklahoma 92

Davidson College remain top of the Atlantic-10 Conference table after a 74-50 win at Duquesne. Sam Mennengatabled 12 points (5/6FG), 2 blocks and 5 rebounds. 

Colorado State 61 (James Moors 2pts, 3rebs, 1 assist, 1 block) Wyoming 55

Hartford 85 (Tom Webley 2 points, 3 rebounds) UMBC 92

Central Maine point guard Safena Te Nana-Williams was named to the Yankee Small College All-Conference Second Team after averaging 10 points, 5.2 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 3.8 steals per game in the regular season. Safena sat out the one-sided 93-39 win against Paul Smith’s College although sister Leata was on show making 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in the conference semi-final.

The Grand Final will take place this coming weekend.

In Junior College Region XIII quarter-finals Molly Cockburn scored 12 points, to go with 5 rebounds and 3 steals, but couldn’t prevent Miles being eliminated 71-48 by Dawson. Samantha Jenkins tallied 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a couple of points for Dawson.

In another Region XIII quarter-final Keeley Tini was prominent as Williston State advanced with a comfortable 73-46 victory against Lake Region State. Tini finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.

Utah State Eastern defeated Southern Nevada 67-61 in the Region 18 quarters. For Utah State Eastern Maclani Michaelscored 5 points and claimed 5 boards, Ella Bradley 4 and 3 plus 2 assists and Brooklyn Pouwhare grabbed 4 rebounds.

There will be plenty of interest in Friday’s semi-final with Utah State Eastern facing Ashlee Strawbridge, Kyra Paniora and Southern Idaho.

Miami moved up to third spot on the Atlantic Coast Conference ladder with a resounding 85-64 win against Pittsburgh. All the Miami starters scored in double figures with Sam Waardenburg making 3 from 5 from beyond the arc as he accumulated 12 points, 3 rebounds an assists and a steal.

Hartford 74 (Thomas Webley 1 points, 1 rebound, 2 blocks) Stony Brook 70

Portland University Pilots (7-6) snapped a three game losing streak with an 89-84 win at St Mary’s (7-9) and in the process moved up to 4^th spot on the West Coast Conference ladder.

In a game that featured 22 lead changes Emme Shearer, in her 50^th game for Portland, had 4 points, 4 rebounds and a game high 4 steals. Tall Ferns forward Amy West scored 8 points for St Mary’s, all in the fourth quarter, while Tayla Dalton mustered 12 points plus a pair of rebounds and assists.

St Mary’s guard Jade Kirisome will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Grace Hunter scored 8 points and snared 3 rebounds as Florida International slipped to 4-10 in Conference-USA play after being beaten 53-39 by Charlotte.

Kael Robinson finished with 2 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds as Rocky Mountain went down 74-67 to MSU-Northern Northern in the NAIA Frontier Conference quarter-final.

Dallas Clayton scored 10 points (4/5FG) as fourth seeded Missouri State-West Plains were defeated 96-53 by State Fair in the Junior College Region 16 play-offs.

Waiaaria Rogers led Marshalltown to an exciting 65-64 defeat of Southeastern. The former Rangitoto College guard top scored in the game with a season high 18 points (7/15FG).

Keeley Tini had a good week scoring 19 points in Williston State’s win against United Tribes and 12 points in the loss to North Dakota SCS.

Te Araroa Sopoaga scored 15 points and Kay-Hauata Phillips 11 points as Cloud breezed past Cowley 77-63. Sopoaga secured 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season while Phillips had a couple of blocks to go with 5 rebounds.

Ashlee Strawbridge peppered Salt Lake for 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists as Southern Idaho won 66-60. Southern Idaho will head to the Region 18 Tournament as top seeds with a 17-1 conference record.

That single loss came against Utah State Eastern that ended the regular season with a 3-12 record after demolishing Colorado Northwestern 63-31.

Ella Bradley top scored with 14 points, Brooklyn Pouwhare scored 7 points and Maclani Michael 5 points for the victors.

Jenna Rose Mafua scored 14 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished 4 assists as Dodge City beat Independence, the top team in the Jayhawk Conference, 60-55.

Ella Paleaae-Cook scored 14 points and Molly Cockburn 11 points, plus a team high 7 rebounds, as Miles came up just short against Dawson going down 78-76. Samantha Jenkins had 6 rebounds and 2 points for Dawson.

Dejaan Schuler was equal top scorer with 13 points (4/7FG) as Casper College completed an 81-61 defeat of Western Wyoming to win the Region North regular season championship with a 10-0 record.

Yzabelle Tevao had 9 points and 3 rebounds to help McCook secure a nail-biting 65-64 win against Otero.

Fourth ranked Western Nebraska have won 20 games straight. Izzy Cook grabbed a team high 7 rebounds to go with 3 assists and 2 points in the comfortable 85-51 victory against Northeastern. Rashaan Smith scored 8 points and secured 5 rebounds in the win.

Jordyn Maddix scored 8 points as Western Texas lost 57-51 to South Plains. Parehuia Delamere dished a game high 6 assists to accompany 5 rebounds and 3 points.

Weatherford went down 69-58 to Grayson with Briarley Rogers scoring 5 points.

Central Maine featuring Harata Coleman, Safena Te Nana-Williams and Leata Te Nana-Williams are seeded number one heading into the Yankee Conference Tournament. 

In men’s Junior college action Daniel Christensen scored 19 points, making 6 from 9 threes, as Barstow were defeated 107-72 at San Bernardino Valley.

Oliver Hayward had a team high 18 points as well as 7 rebounds and 2 steals as Midland College secured a 66-62 home win against New Mexico Military Institute 66-62.

Missouri State – West Plains secured 4^th seed in the upcoming regional play-offs after a high scoring 105-99 victory over State Fair. Dallas Clayton, in his first start of the season, tallied 4 points, 2 rebounds and a steal.

Nate Wilson scored 8 points as South Georgia Tech beat Georgia Highlands 102-87.

Ezrah Vaigafa came up with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals as Neosho County were trumped 74-61 by Johnson County.

Double figure outings from both Charlisse and Krystal Leger-Walker ensured Washington State University (WSU secured a notable 72-67 win against Arizona ranked #8 in the nation.

Krystal finished with 12 points (4/8FG), 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal while Charlisse amassed 15 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and a block.

In the process Krystal brought up 1,000 career points – the 15^th Kiwi to reach this milestone in NCAA Division I women’s basketball.

Charlisse also registered a milestone playing her 50^th game for Washington State – each one of them as a starter.

The win improves the WSU Pac-12 record to 10-4 which ties the record for most Pac-12 wins in programme history.

Another Tall Fern Tera Reed dished 3 assists and also scored 9 points, including 5 from 5 from the free-throw-line, as Southern California slipped to a 67-54 Pac-12 home loss to Colorado. Reed is now just 6 points shy of 1,600 career points and 53 behind Erin Rooney’s New Zealand all-time collegiate record of 1,647 points.

McKenna Dale produced a season best performance to help Virginia to a 74-65 victory over Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The former Junior Tall Fern finished with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 4 blocks in a highly productive 30 minutes. The 4 blocks and 8 rebounds (3 on the offensive glass) were both season highs for Dale who needs just a single point to bring up 500 career points – 432 of those points scored at Brown University before she transferred to Virginia at the beginning of this season.

In addition to a double-double (his fifth of the season) of 15 points (6/11 FG) and 10 rebounds Callum McCrae also had 7 assists as UC Riverside defeated Cal Poly 78-58. Flynn Cameron tabled 10 points bringing up 500 career points.

Kruz Perrott-Hunt rang-up 18 points as South Dakota defeated Western Illinois 78-65 to move to 10-6 in the Summit League with two regular season games remaining. That’s 400 points this season for the former Rosmini standout and 14-straight games in double figures.

Sam Waardenburg finished with 6 points and a team high 7 rebounds but Miami lost at home (74-71) to Virginia – both teams now have 11 wins in the Atlantic Coast Conference and are amongst four teams tied for third spot on the ladder.

Davidson 79 (Sam Mennenga 1 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist) Saint Louis 58

New Mexico State 82 (Yuat Alok 2 points, 1 rebound) Grand Canyon 66

Grace Hunter scored a game high, and season best, 19 points (8/15FG) but Florida International came up just short against Rice losing 73-67. The Porirua guard added 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals for good measure.

In front of a record crowd of 6,300 BYU all but wrapped up the West Coast Conference regular season title with an emphatic  63-39 win against second placed Gonzaga. Tegan Graham had 6 points, 5 assists and 3 steals in the game while Kaylee Smiler had a rebound and an assist.

Fordham almost beat Atlantic-10 Conference leaders Dayton but a fourth quarter revival fell just short at 47-48. Kendell Heremaia had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals in the loss.

St Mary’s 79 (Tayla Dalton 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists) San Diego 67

Fresno State 69 (Amiee Book 5 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound) San Diego State 77

St Peter’s 44 (Victotia Ikenasio 4 points, 4 rebounds) Iona 63

Georgia Southern 70 (Tsubasa Nisbett 1 point, 2 rebounds) Troy 82

UC Irvine 57 (Olivia Williams 2 points) Hawaii 67

Kruz Perrott-Hunt ran up 19 points, making 3 from 6 from beyond the arc, as South Dakota earned an 81-60 win against St Thomas. Perrott-Hunt is averaging 17 points a game at home during Summit League play and went two better in this one, moving past 600 career points in the process. South Dakota 9-6 in league play with three regular season games remaining. 

Also in double figures was Callum McRae as UC Riverside beat CSU Bakersfield 79-69. The former Palmerston North Boys High standout finished with an outstanding stat line of 16 points (7/11FG), 7 assists and 7 rebounds.

Sam Waardenburg was the cornerstone of Miami’s defence as the Hurricanes moved to 11-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 70-63 win at Louisville. Waardenburg had team high’s in rebounds (9) and blocks (3) along with 8 points.

Tobias Cameron had a productive 12 points, 7 rebounds and a pair of assists as Abilene Christian lost 75-71 in overtime to Sam Houston. 

St Mary’s 69 (Dan Fotu 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 block) San Francisco 64

Colorado State 83 (James Moors 4 points, 5 rebounds) New Mexico 68

New Mexico State 75 (Yuat Alok 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 block) Dixie State 64

After 14 straight losses Virginia Cavaliers gained their first Atlantic Coast Conference win beating Duke 67-54. McKenna Dale had 5 points, and one each in blocks, steals, rebounds and assists in the win.

BYU 77 (Tegan Graham 5pts, 4rebs, 2a, 1stl, Kaylee Smiler 3a, 2rebs, 1stl, Arielle Mackey-Williams 2pts, 1a, 1stl)Loyola Marymount 54

Florida International 49 (Grace Hunter 5 points, 2 assists) Middle Tennessee 63

Portland 72 (Emme Shearer 7 points, 2 assists) San Francisco 80

Georgia Southern 68 (Tsubasa Nisbett 6 points, 2 rebounds) South Alabama 56

Fresno State 59 (Amiee Book 3 points, 2 steals) Nevada, Las Vegas 69