Monthly Archives: December 2024

Dec 23 2024
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College Hoops

Kiwis in NCAA Division I – Busy pre-Xmas schedule reviewed

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones became the first Kiwi to pass 200 points in NCAA Division I basketball  this season when he scored 20 points for UC San Diego in its 75-73 win at the previously unbeaten Utah State. That was followed by 17 points and a season best 6 assists in a 77-71 local derby win against San Diego.

Taine Murray scored a season high 14 points as Virginia fell 64-62 at home to Memphis and then 13 points, on 3 from 4 from beyond the arc, in a bounce back win against Mason Whittaker and American (63-58).

Ben Gold passed 100 points for the season as he made a perfect 4 from 4 from the field for his 9 points as #9 Marquette opened its Big East Conference fixtures with an 80-70 home win against Dayton. That was followed by an 11-point outing in an exciting 72-70 victory at Xavier.

Tafara Gapare made 9 points to compliment 8 rebounds as Maryland demolished St Francis 111-57 to move to 9-2 this season.

Zach Riley came up with 7 points and 5 rebounds as Fordham got the better of Albany winning 87-83.

Another Wellingtonian Ahmed Essahaty enjoyed his most profitable outing of the season as Southeastern Louisiana beat Loyola New Orleans 96-62. Essahaty finished with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a brace of steals.

Women

An efficient shooting performance from Emme Shearer helped Portland open West Coast Conference (WCC) play with a win. Shearer top scored with 17 points (4/6FG, 3/3 3PG, 6/7FT) in the 83-48 win at Loyola Marymount.

She followed that with 22 points and 11 rebounds in the 66-59 win against San Diego. Shearer now has 1,304 career points and in so doing becomes just the 6th Kiwi to pass 1,300 career points in NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball.

Ahead of her are:

        1,743Charlisse Leger-Walker, present, (Washington State/UCLA)
        1,647Erin Rooney, 2009-14, (Monmouth University/Fordham University)
        1,624Tera Reed, 2017-22, (Virginia Commonwealth/USC)
        1,497Megan Compain, 1993-97, (St Joseph’s University)
        1,439Stella Beck, 2014-18, (St Mary’s College, California)

St Mary’s also began its WCC programme with a pair of wins although it needed overtime before seeing off Santa Clara 64-56. Maia Jones came up with a career high 4 blocks to compliment 3 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Jones then had 10 points (4/7FG) in the 59-54 win against LMU.

Passing 600 career points Dani Bayes made three triples from 6 attempts in scoring a season best 19 points as Boise State overcame Furman 74-65.

With all her points coming in the second half Mackenzie Chatfield scored 14 (3 from 5 three-pointers) as Western Kentucky went down 80-58 to Oregon State at the Maui Classic, Hawaii – the fourth double digit outing of the season for the former Junior Tall Fern.

Leah Mafua, with 12 points, top scored for Central Arkansas in its narrow 55-53 loss to Alabama A&M at the Tulane Holiday Tournament in New Orleans.

Another to top score in a close loss was Helen Matthews. She scored 17 points as Wofford went down 69-64 to Lehigh.

Ahead of Big 12 Conference play Waiata Jennings, in her first  season at Baylor University (10-2), enjoyed her most productive outing yet for the Bears as they steamrolled Utah Tech 97-34. The former Rotorua and Waikato standout posted season highs in points (11) and steals (4).

Emilee Tahata scored 10 points as Rider were defeated 70-62 by Quinnipiac in the opening skirmish of the Eastern Colleges Athletics Conference.

Freshman Hanna Richardson, in just her ninth collegiate game, was handed her first starting berth for Saint Bonaventure. Richardson posted a season high 7 rebounds to go with 6 points as the Bonnies defeated local rivals Niagara 76-68.

Finally, it’s nice to see Tayla Dalton back on the court after battling a stress fracture injury for the past few months. Having transferred from St Mary’s, California to Gonzaga in the off season Dalton didn’t disappoint on debut for the Zags in its 66-59 win at San Diego – she finished with 5 points, a trio of rebounds and assists plus a game high 4 steals.

Dec 17 2024
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College Hoops, Tauihi Aotearoa

Kiwis in NCAA Division I – The current and past

With the Tauihi Aotearoa Grand Final upcoming on Sunday it’s perhaps timely to remind ourselves that a number of Kiwis in both camps enjoyed strong college careers before joining the professional ranks – below is a brief rundown on those careers:

Tokomanawa Queens:

Captain Stella Beck enjoyed a standout career at St Mary’s College, California where in 2018 she was named to the All-West Coast Conference First Team for the second time in her career after leading the Gaels in scoring, steals and free-throw shooting in her final collegiate season.

Appearing in her third consecutive final Grace Hunter played 2 years at Junior College and then the 2021-22 season at Florida International University followed by two season at CSU Bakersfield (both NCAA Division I).

Jacinta Beckley enjoyed a 4-year career at University of Seattle playing 94 games for the Redhawks. In her senior year was named to the All-Western Athletic Conference Second Team after averaging 12.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Tiarna Clarke spent one-year playing NCAA Division I at University of Northern Colorado (2017-2018). Played all 32 games for UNC, alongside Krystal Leger-Walker, helping them win the Big Sky Conference.

Lauryn Hippolite played NCAA Division II basketball at Hawaii Pacific University in 2018-19.

Tauranga Whai:

McKenna Dale played two years in the Ivy League at Brown University before transferring to Virginia University for a further two years making 102 appearances in total.

Jade Kirisome played 109 games during her 4 years of NCAA Division I basketball. She spent her freshman year at North Carolina State University followed by three years at St Mary’s, California.

Eva Langton played two years at Western Nebraska Junior College before moving on to Texas A&M International (NCAA Division II) for three years.

Kaylee Smiler enjoyed a 5 year playing career at Brigham Young University (BYU) where she made 137 appearances for the Cougars – only Tegan Graham (153), Kendall Heremaia (145) and Krystal Leger Walker (142), amongst Kiwi women, have played more NCAA Division I games.

And now to the present:

Averaging 17 points per game Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones put up 21 as UC San Diego (9-2) beat Idaho 80-56. AT-J is now just 13 points shy of passing the 655 career points Tom Vodanovich scored at James Maddison Uni to move to 15th on the all-time list of NZ scorers in Men’s NCAA Division I hoops.

Ben Gold scored 9 points as Marquette (9-2) suffered just its second loss of the season going down 71-63 against Dayton.

On the road against Power Four opponents South Carolina Upstate were beaten 73-53 by   South Carolina. Making a fourth consecutive start Nick Book bettered his season average with 8 points on 4 from 7 shooting for Upstate.

Will Shortt, the leading shot blocker at Niagara, added another pair to his highlights – along with 6 rebounds and 2 points as the Purple Eagles edged a close one against St Francis 69-66.

Leah Mafua is shooting the three-ball at over 40% this season but could only make 1 from 4 for Central Arkansas (6-2) in its 62-52 defeat of Northwestern State. Mafua finished the contest with 7 points, a couple of assists and a steal.

Olivia Williams pulled down a team high 7 rebounds to accompany 8 points as UC Irvine (7-3) beat Oregon State 60-48.

Izzy Pugh, with 8 points, was the second highest scorer for Wisconsin Milwaukee as it suffered a 69-51 loss to Marquette.  

Emilee Tahata had 6 points, 5 rebounds and a game high 3 blocks as Rider got the better of Stonehill 63-55. The former Junior Tall Fern leads the team in blocks averaging almost two per game.

Dec 14 2024
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College Hoops

NCAA D1 hoops – leading Kiwi performers

14 December

Ahead of conference play here are some eye catching numbers that have been put up by Kiwis in NCAA Division I hoops in the opening two months of the season.

Senior Emme Shearer is one of only two players in all NCAA Division I Women’s basketball to be averaging at least 17 points and 2.5 steals per game. In addition Shearer has made 41 from 45 free-throws at 91% for the unbeaten Portland Pilots (10-0).

Freshman Ritorya Tamilo leads Hawaii (5-3) in points (11.3ppg) and rebounds (5.4rpg). In addition she ranks 18th nationally with 2.4 blocks per game.

Sophomore Maia Jones leads St Mary’s Gaels (4-5) in assists (3.3apg) and is shooting the three-ball at 42% (14/33).

Also knocking down threes at a very good clip is Leah Mafua. She has made 14 from 32 at 43.8% for Central Arkansas (5-2) across the first 7 games of the season.

Better still is the percentage of Lilly Parke in making 18 from 40 at 45% from deep to lead Fairleigh Dickinson (7-3) in three-point shooting – Parke starting all 10 games is averaging 9.4ppg.

Putting up similar numbers is Junior Olivia Williams at UC Irvine (6-3) making 16 from 40 threes at exactly 40% whilst averaging 9.9 points per game.

Sophomore Mackenzie Chatfield is averaging 3.3 assists per game for Western Kentucky (8-1) and has made 13 from 34 threes at 38% – second best in both categories for WCU.

Senior Helen Matthews, back in the Wofford College (6-2) starting five after missing all of last season due to an ACL injury, is averaging 9.9ppg.

Putting up the best numbers amongst Kiwis in Men’s Division I hoops is Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones with the senior guard leading the scoring and rebounding count at UC San Diego (8-2). The former St Pat’s man is averaging 16.6 points and 5.7 boards per game. In addition he is second best for assists with 29 at 2.9 per game across the opening 10 games.

Tall Black Ben Gold, in addition to averaging 8.5ppg, is the joint leading shot blocker on the highly ranked Marquette (9-1) team. Irrespective of which ranking numbers you look at the Golden Eagles are ranked top-6 in the nation.

Hunter Adam has made a good start to his sophomore season at Davidson College (7-2). The Cantabrian has played all 9 games and has the second best field goal percentage at 55.6% making 10 from 18 shots.

Another Cantabrian Nick Book has made a promising start to his career at South Carolina Upstate (4-8). The freshman, averaging 5.1ppg, has a field goal percentage of 58.5 (24/41) – second best on the team.

Tafara Gapare has the third best shooting percentage at Maryland (8-2). The senior, out of Wellington has made 20 from 35 at 57% across the opening 10 games.

Sophomore Tom Beattie has started 7 from 8 games for Hawaii (5-3) with the former Harbour rep averaging 8.3 points per game and the second highest assists makes with 16.

Dec 10 2024
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College Hoops

The Week in Review: Kiwis in NCAA Division I – Shearer and Tait-Jones moving up the NZ all-time rankings

December 10

After her latest scoring exploits Emme Shearer is up to 7th on the all-time scoring list for New Zealand players in NCAA Division I Women’s hoops.

Shearer scored in double figures for the sixth successive game in compiling 19 points as Portland defeated Ivy League defending champions Princeton 74-55. Shearer was also one shy of her career best in steals as she snared six.

She then posted a career high 7 assists to go with 16 points as Portland won 83-67 against Texas at El Paso. That takes her career tally to 1,258 points passing Amiee Book (CSU Fullerton 2018-21, Fresno State 2021-23) who scored 1,249 points.

Lilly Parke landed 3 from 5 threes on her way to 15 points and 6 rebounds as Fairleigh Dickinson University held off Lafayette to win 69-62. After then mustering 11 points in a 62-54 win against Rider the 2024 Tall Ferns trialist has 399 career points at FDU.

In a game that had 10 ties and 15 lead changes Hawaii lost its Big West Conference opener 73-69 in overtime to Long Beach State. Ritorya Tamilo was a standout in the loss with 14 points, 9 rebounds and a new career mark of 6 blocks.

Helen Matthews joint top scored for Wofford with 13 points in a 71-63 win against Appalachian State

Maia Jones made a pair of threes in the final 60 seconds as St Mary’s staged a late recovery against San Jose State before going down 51-46. The sophomore guard finished with 12 points to go with 5 rebounds and a couple of steals.

Dani Bayes chipped in with 11 points and tied her career high with 6 assists as Boise State defeated San Diego 76-69.

Central Arkansas won a low scoring encounter against Little Rock 55-42 with Leah Mafua posting 11 points and 5 rebounds, plus a couple of blocks, in the win.

Izzy Pugh scored 9 points as Milwaukee lost a see-sawing battle with Robert Morris 56-55.

Waiata Jennings scored a season high 8 points as Baylor won a one sided contest against Texas Southern 101-29.

Men

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones became the 17th New Zealand man to score over 600 NCAA Division I points as he led UC San Diego to an 84-76 win at UC Santa Barbara to open Big West Conference play. Tait-Jones finished with a game high 22 points to go with 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

Tafara Gapare scored a dozen points as Maryland moved to 8-1 with a resounding 83-59 win against Ohio State. Those 12 points carried the Wellingtonian past 300 NCAA Division I career points.

In front of a sell-out crowd of 18,000 a couple of heavyweight teams went head to head and it was #5 Marquette that prevailed 88-74 against #11 Wisconsin (where Kirk Penney is an assistant coach). Ben Gold had 9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a block in the win.

Finn Lally was close to his first Division I double-double as he posted 12 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks in the William & Mary 109-55 victory against Virginia Lynchburg.

Taine Murray scored 8 points on 4 from 5 shooting as Virginia were burnt by Florida 87-69.

Nic Book filled his stats line with 6 points (3/4FG), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal as South Carolina Upstate thumped Brevard 91-60.

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Dec 03 2024
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College Hoops

Week in Review – Kiwis in NCAA Division I

December 3

This week the review covers career high’s from Mackenzie Chatfield, Olivia Williams, Ritorya Tamilo and Emme Shearer and in men’s action a season best from Tafara Gapare.

We start with Shearer who is quickly making every post a winner right now.

The former Westlake Girls High and Harbour wing was in rare scoring form at the weekend as Portland went 3-0 at the Nuggets Classic in Reno. Named West Coast Conference Player of the Week, Shearer scored 21 against Southern Utah, 18 against Central Michigan followed by a career best 26 against Nevada. Those 26 points carried her to 1,223 career points, up to 9th on the all-time list of Kiwi Women’s NCAA Division I scorers edging past Tegan Graham (Colgate Uni 2016-20, BYU 2020-22) and Micaela Cocks (University of Oregon Ducks, 2006-10).

Mackenzie Chatfield made career highs in points (20) and assists (8) as Western Kentucky extended its winning start to the season to six games with a 92-62 win against Tennessee State.

Olivia Williams also had a career best as UC Irvine lost 65-62 at New Mexico. Williams knocked down her fourth triple of the game to tie proceedings at 62-62 only for the Lobos to reply in kind on the buzzer.

The junior guard was 7 from 14 overall and 4 from 6 from deep in making 20 points.

Ritorya Tamilo maintained her strong start to her collegiate career at Hawaii. The freshman centre had a season high 17 points (7/11FG) to go with 7 rebounds and 3 blocks in the 50-47 come from behind win against Fresno State.

Ella Brow scored a season high 14 points to accompany 4 rebounds and 5 assists as Southern Methodist proved too strong for Arkansas – Pine Bluff winning 82-58. Brow nailed 4 from 7 threes in 23 minutes of action.

Dani Bayes scored 10 points as Boise State edged past Illinois State 79-76.

Cantabrian Kavanah Lene finally saw minutes for Montana and posted a nice line of 6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal on debut in the 107-56 win against Evergreen State.

Also posting her first collegiate points was Rebecca Moors who converted both of her scoring attempts for 5 points in Hawaii’s 70-49 loss to UCLA.

NCAA Division I Men

Tafara Gapare scored in double figures for the eighth time in his college career, but for the first time with Maryland. Gapare scored 19 points as Maryland beat Bucknell 91-67 and followed that with 9 points and 8 rebounds in an easy 96-58 win against Alcorn.

Ben Gold filled the stats line in just 22 minutes of action as Marquette easily accounted for Western Carolina 94-62 to make it eight wins on the bounce to open the season. Gold finished with 12 points, 4 boards, 4 assists a block and a steal.

With 81 appearances at Marquette Gold is up to 24th on the all-time list of Men’s NCAA Division I appearances by a Kiwi moving past Tony Rampton (Iowa State University, 1995-99).

Aniwaniwa Tait Jones rounded out a productive first five weeks of the season in scoring 10 points as UC San Diego won a one sided contest against La Verne 109-33. Tait Jones has scored 136 points in 8 games (all starts) at 17.0ppg, he is now just 8 points shy of 600 career points for UCSD.

In his second start of the season freshman Nic Book came up with a double of 8 points and 8 rebounds plus a couple of blocks and a steal despite Southern Carolina Upstate being upstaged by Coastal Carolina going down 73-51.

Mason Whittaker scored a couple of points – his first of the season – as American University defeated Notre Dame of Maryland 97-52.

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