Emme Shearer became the 28th Kiwi to play 100 NCAA Division I games when suiting up for the University of Portland in their 81-51loss at #9 ranked Stanford.
Shearer top scored for Portland with 12 points taking her to 807 career points which moves her up to 21st on the Kiwi women’s all-time Division I scoring list. In addition her 77 starts place her 10th highest in that statistical category.
In the Men’s game Tafara Gapare enjoyed a breakout game as he helped Georgia Tech to an 82-81 overtime victory against Penn State. At the iconic Madison Square Garden the Wellingtonian scored 20 points, making 3 from 6 triples, while adding 6 rebounds.
Fellow Wellingtonian Ben Gold scored 8 points as Marquette closed non-conference play with an 84-79 win against St Thomas.
Back to the women and Kaylee Smiler scored a season high 17 points as BYU overcame a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to beat Idaho State 79-76 in an overtime thriller.
Held scoreless in the first half Charlisse Leger-Walker eventually finished with 11 points as Washington State went down 60-55 to local rivals Washington in the opening Pac-12 fixture of the season.
Leger-Walker now has 1,618 career points just 30 points away from taking the New Zealand all-time Division I scoring record away from Cantabrian Erin Rooney (Monmouth University Hawks, 2009-11/Fordham University Rams, 2012-14) who scored 1,647 points.
After averaging 10 points per game, on 75% shooting, Massachusetts forward Lilly Taulelei was named Atlantic-10 Conference Rookie of the Week.
Dani Bayes scored 8 points as Boise State defeated Rocky Mountain 67-46. NAIA school Rocky Mountain were led by former Waikato and St Peter’s School forward Dominique Stephens who put together an impressive double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds – her fourth double-double in eight games this season.
Leah Mafua came close to a double-double as Central Arkansas thumped Central Baptist 69-32. She finished with 8 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists.
Emme Shearer and Tayla Dalton began their NCAA careers back in 2020 at a time when, as freshmen, they not only had to adapt to the demands placed on first year student athletes but also navigate the constraints and restrictions in place due to COVID.
Almost four years on, and in their senior years, the former Harbour representative teammates are bringing up a century of Division 1 appearances in the same week – Shearer with the University of Portland Pilots and Dalton with St Mary’s College, California Gaels.
Dalton reached the mark in the Gaels loss at UC Davis on Sunday while Shearer will reach her ton when Portland visit Stanford on Friday.
So how big a deal is a century of games?
Well first of all not many Kiwis have done it. In fact just 26 New Zealand women and 17 men have previously reached the mark in NCAA Division I play (see table below).
With college teams playing just over thirty games a season on average the other requirements to achieve the milestone are to remain injury free, which largely both have, and quickly win the trust of the coaching staff.
Many players suffer the frustration of sitting on the bench in their first year (or more) picking up spot minutes behind more established senior players. Dalton and Shearer were spared that hindrance as they made an immediate impact for their respective teams.
In the 2020-21 season Shearer played in all 27 games (with 14 starts) for the Pilots and was named to the All-West Coast Conference Freshman Team. The Gaels also play in the West Coast Conference where Dalton also appeared in every St Mary’s game (26) and made three starts.
Following accomplished freshman years the duo have continued to build successful NCAA Division I careers with both having a chance of completing the double of 100 appearances and a 1,000 points during this current season – something achieved by just 17 New Zealand women.
Shearer has a slight lead with 795 points compared with Dalton’s 771 points. Both are currently second on their team’s scoring list – Shearer averaging 10.7ppg and Dalton 9.3ppg.
In addition Shearer leads the Pilots in steals (2.4 per game) while Dalton, averaging a team high 31 minutes per game for the Gaels, is second in that stats category (1.6 per game).
Having played together for the Junior Tall Ferns in 2018, alongside each other for various Harbour representative teams, and against each other in the Auckland Schools competition (Shearer for Westlake Girls High and Dalton for Carmel College) it’s fitting these good friends hit the century mark just five days apart.
Dalton was unaware of the milestone she had attained when the Lowdown contacted her.
“To reach 100 games wearing the SMC #10 jersey is very special. I cannot believe how fast my college career is going by, but I absolutely love this journey. Not only is it great to be playing at such a high level, but making such incredible memories along the way.”
Shearer expresses similar sentiments, “It’s been cool to look back and see how far I’ve come and grown as a player and a person since I arrived at Portland.”
With West Coast Conference play underway at the end of the month Dalton is looking forward to that part of the season.
“We are hoping to finish out this non-conference play well and then ready to get into conference play – will be on the court against my best buddy Emme in no time, said Dalton”
The match-up between the pair will be on Thursday January 18 when St Mary’s head north to Portland, the West Coast Conference defending champions.
“It’ll be fun facing Tayla and the Gaels again. We are looking for a strong second half of the season with hopefully more Conference success and another trip to the NCAA Tournament, said Shearer.”
100+ Appearances/Starts – NZ Women (*currently playing | ^played 5 seasons)
153/78
^Tegan Graham (Colgate University, 2017-20/BYU 20-22)
145/117
^Kendell Heremaia (Fordham University, 2017-22)
142/139
^Krystal Leger-Walker (Washington State 2020-22/Northern Colorado 2015-18)
136/110
Jillian Harmon (Stanford University Cardinals, 2005-09)
Kaylee Smiler filled the stats line with 7 points (2/3 3PG), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block as Brigham Young University (BYU) improved to 7-2 with a 72-66 home win against Utah State.
In her fifth year with BYU the Waikato native is renowned for her defensive prowess more than her scoring capability. However, this season and approaching 500 career points, Smiler is shooting the ball at a better clip than at any time in her career.
A 75% free-throw shooter, her field goal percentage is at an all-time high of 47% while her 3-point success is at a heady 52% having made 11 from 21 from beyond the arc. Leading the team in assists (3.8apg) and steals (1.6spg) Smiler has become a key contributor at both ends of the floor for the Cougars.
Also filling the stats line was Leah Mafua as Central Arkansas dominated Central Baptist to win 69-32. Mafua finished with 8 points (passing 100 points for the season in the process), 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and a block.
Three players, including Dani Bayes, scored 15 points (4/9 3PG) as Boise State comfortably beat a Grace Hunter less California State Bakersfield 87-66.
Lilly Taulelei shot a perfect 6 from 6 on her way to scoring 12 points – her third consecutive game with ten points or more.
Emme Shearer is ranked first in the West Coast Conference for steals per game (2.6) and she snared another three, as well as 12 points, despite Portland falling 76-71 at Stephen F. Austin.
Lilly Parke claimed 7 rebounds to go with 10 points as Fairleigh Dickinson coped fairly easily with Bloomfield winning 86-38.
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones passed the 100 points mark for the season as UC San Diego eased past Occidental with a 98-67 win. AT-J made 8 points on a perfect 4 from 4 shooting and also added 8 rebounds and 4 assists. That was followed with 11 points in a narrow 68-62 loss at Pepperdine.
Ben Gold was a perfect 3 from 3 from the field in making 8 points as #7 Marquette gained a big 86-65 win against #12 Texas.
In his 50th game for Fordham University, Zach Riley scored 3 points as the Rams clinched a tight one against North Texas 60-59.
A week after recording her first collegiate triple-double Charlisse Leger-Walker settled for back to back double-doubles for Washington State (9-1). The Cougars ran all over Texas A&M Commerce winning 111-50 (CL-W finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds) and followed that with a 77-52 defeat of UC Davis (CL-W 10 and 10).
Leger-Walker now has 1,603 career points with only Erin Rooney (1,647pts) and Tera Reed (1,624pts) ahead of her on the all-time list of NZ NCAA Division I points scorers.
in her 98th appearance for St Mary’s College Tayla Dalton posted a season high 19 points, and a team leading 6 assists, as St Mary’s fell 74-69 at Pac-12 opponents California Berkeley.
Leah Mafua continued her strong start to the season – she top scored with 16 points, and added 7 rebounds, as Central Arkansas (6-3) put the hammer down on Little Rock to win 63-58.
Flo Dallow and Emme Shearer both made double digit contributions as Portland dunked the Oregon Ducks 91-60 – the biggest win against Pac12 opponents by Portland. Dallow came off the bench to slot home a perfect 4 from 4 for 10 points in just 7 minutes while Shearer tallied 11 points.
Shearer followed that with 16 points and 5 steals – all in the second half – in Portland’s 73-64 come from behind win against Montana State.
Freshman Lilly Taulelei had her second double figure points scoring outing for Massachusetts in their 70-62 loss to Yale. The Wellingtonian forward tallied 13 points on 6 from 8 shooting.
Along with 9 points Vitolia Tuilave grabbed 8 rebounds, including 7 off the offensive glass, to help propel Wofford College (4-3) to a decisive 65-42 win against Southern Wesleyan.
Having endured two injury interrupted years it’s pleasing to see former Canterbury and Junior Tall Fern forward Charlotte Whittaker back to the sort of form that made her such a coveted collegiate recruit.
In 17 minutes of action Whittaker tallied 5 points, 4 rebounds and a steal as number 7 ranked Colorado Buffaloes (7-1) charged past Boston to win 85-55.
With 5 points, Dani Bayes brought up 300 career points despite Boise State slipping to a 64-43 defeat at the hands of Eastern Washington.
In men’s NCAA Division I play Ben Gold grabbed a personal best 8 rebounds to go with 10 points as Marquette saw off Southern University winning 93-56.
Next up for #3 ranked Marquette is a trip to Wisconsin where former Tall Black great Kirk Penney is an assistant coach.
Zach Riley snared 3 steals to accompany a couple of points as Fordham (3-3) beat Manhattan 93-61 in the Battle of the Bronx.
In another rivalry game San Diego State pipped UC San Diego 63-63 with Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones accumulating 7 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists for UCSD.
LACEY LOWDOWN 