We lead this week with Leah Mafua who dished 7 assists, grabbed 4 steals and stacked up a season best 17 points as Central Arkansas (3-1) remained unbeaten at home with an 86-75 win against Lipscomb.
The former Hutt Valley star then made her sixth double figure score on the bounce with 10 points in a 66-57 road win at Queens University of Charlotte.
Helen Matthews was prominent as Wofford College opened its Southern Conference campaign with a 68-51 home win against Furman. The former Kaiapoi College standout posted 16 points with four made triples, a career high. She added 5 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals.
Scoring a dozen points Olivia Williams brought up 400 career points as UC Irvine (3-1) proved too good for Cal State Northridge winning 68-39.
Five teams are tied for top spot in the West Coast Conference (WCC) with 5-2 records and three of them feature Kiwis.
Defending champions Portland defeated San Francisco 74-60 with Emme Shearer scoring 10 points while Tayla Dalton knocked down both of her three-point attempts for 6 points as Gonzaga won 69-61 at Washington State.
Earlier in the week Maia Jones garnered a career high 5 steals to accompany a team high 11 points although St Mary’s College were outscored 35-21 in the second half to go down 66-57 to Washington State.
Away from the WCC Mackenzie Chatfield passed 100 points for the season with 9 points on an efficient 2 from 2 from beyond the arc and 3 from 4 from the foul line as Western Kentucky (1-2) won 51-44 at Jacksonville State.
Three other players also tallied 9 points:
Dani Bayes did so – and grabbed 5 rebounds – as Boise State (2-2) held off a fast finishing Utah State to win 82-77.
Lilly Parke also had a couple of steals as Fairleigh Dickinson moved to 3-0 in the Northeast Conference with a 77-63 road win at Mercyhurst.
Emilee Tahata filled the stats line as Rider University (1-4) gained its first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win by downing Niagara 79-59. The former Junior Tall Fern registered 5 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block as well as 9 points.
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones poured in a team high 25 points (6/9FG, 13/14FT) as UC San Diego made it four Big West Conference wins on the bounce with a dominant 95-68 win against Cal Poly. ATJ now has 745 career points and moves past Dan Fotu (726) into 12th spot on NZ’s all-time list of points scorers in Men’s NCAA Division I hoops.
Tait-Jones followed that with a team high 17 points as UC San Diego (4-1) suffered its first Big West loss going down 60-52 to UC Irvine. It was his 50th game – and 50th start for the Tritons.
Also in the Big West Tom Beattie scored 16 points (5/7FG, 4/4FT) and added 4 assists as Hawaii (3-2) recorded a second road win on the bounce after defeating Cal State Fullerton 95-86.
Tafara Gapare and Maryland produced a statement win in downing #22 UCLA 79-61 to improve to 2-3 in the Big Ten Conference. Particularly impactful at the defensive end Gapare finished with 8 points (3/4FG), 2 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal.
Ahmed Essahaty had 8 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists – all season highs – as Southeastern Louisiana (2-3) beat New Orleans 91-71.
LACEY LOWDOWN 