LACEY LOWDOWN

The New Zealand interest in the NCAA  Division I Tournament has begun to dwindle after First Round ties were completed.

Patriot League champions Mason Whittaker and his American University team lost a First Four tie against Mount St Mary’s 83-72. Whittaker’s collegiate career has come to an end after 43 appearances for the Eagles.

First Round:

Ben Gold (9 points and 5 rebounds) and #7 ranked Marquette faced #10 New Mexico and came off second best going down 75-66.

Also from the Big 10 Conference Tafara Gapare and #4 Maryland easily accounted for #13 Grand Canyon winning 81-49. Next up for the Terps is a meeting with #12 Colorado State.

Big West Conference MVP Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones and #12 UC San Diego lost a heart breaker against #5 Michigan 68-65 (with Oscar Goodman a red shirt freshman on the bench for Michigan). Michigan next face Texas A&M.

Tait-Jones, restricted by referee trouble, fouled out in 24 minutes with 7 points and 4 rebounds to his name. He finished the season with a colossal 670 points – a UCSD programme record and also a record single season haul by a Kiwi in NCAA Division I hoops.

In the Women’s NCAA Tournament:

Lilly Taulelei and #11 Iowa State defeated Princeton in a First Four tie on Wednesday winning 68-63 to earn a First Round match up with Michigan which resulted in an 80-74 loss.

Making their first ever Tournament appearance Northeast Conference Champions #15 Fairleigh Dickinson with Lilly Parke (3 points and 4 rebounds) a starter were defeated 73-51 by #2 Texas Christian. Parke started all 33 games for FDU tallying 313 points.

Waiata Jennings and #4 Baylor were too good for Grand Canyon winning their First Round tie 73-60.

Unfortunately we won’t see Charlisse Leger-Walker in action as she continues her rehab from the ACL injury she suffered last year but her UCLA Bruins are the overall number one seed at the tournament and they made an impressive start with a commanding 84-46 win against Southern.

A number of New Zealander’s missed out on the Big Dance but are/were still be involved in tournament play.

The Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT) is an invite only tournament for teams that were regular season champions plus others including the first four teams out of the NCAA Tournament.

All First round games were played on Thursday March 20:

West Coast Conference (WCC) regular season joint champs Gonzaga defeated Texas at San Antonio 67-51 with Tayla Dalton adding 4 assists, a block and a steal to 9 points in the win.

Emme Shearer matched her career high with 28 points (12/18FG) and hit the game winning free throw with 1.8 seconds left to carry fellow WCC regular season champs Portland to a 69-68 overtime win at Stanford University – a first ever win for Portland against the Cardinals in five attempts.

Hawaii were undone by UNLV 63-46 to bring the curtain down on the freshman seasons of Rebecca Moors and Ritorya Tamilo. Moors made 26 appearances and Tamilo 31 with 29 starts. The Big West Freshman of the Year now owns the Hawaii’s women’s record for blocked shots in a season by a freshman swatting away 41 shots.

There is also Kiwi interest at the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).

In the First Round Saint Mary’s, minus Maia Jones, went down 54-50 to Texas Southern

while Zoe Richardson and Siena College bowed out against Howard 72-62

Leah Mafua and Central Arkansas received a bye to the second round and will entertain Abilene Christian on March 24.

At the Men’s NIT UC Irvine (redshirt Akiva McBirney-Griffin) had an 82-72 First Round win against Northern Colorado and will next face Jacksonville State.

Meanwhile at the inaugural College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas Georgetown (redshirt Julius Halaifonua) will take on Washington State on March 31.

The NCAA  Division I Tournament Draws have been announced and there will be four New Zealand representatives at the Men’s Tournament although it could be argued five as Oscar Goodman is training with the University of Michigan Wolverines ahead of his debut in the 2025-26 season.

Patriot League champions Mason Whittaker and his American team will play a First Four tie against Mount St Mary’s on March 19 with the winner having the unenviable task of meeting #1 seed Duke in the First Round.

Ben Gold and #7 ranked Marquette will face #10 New Mexico on March 21. Also from the Big 10 Conference Tafara Gapare and #4 Maryland will face #13 Grand Canyon on March 21.

On March 20 Big West Conference MVP Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones and #12 UC San Diego will debut at the NCAA Tournament against #5 Michigan with Oscar Goodman looking on.

In the Women’s NCAA Tournament:

Northeast Conference Champions #15 Fairleigh Dickinson with Lilly Parke a starter will play #2 Texas Christian on March 21.

Also on Friday Waiata Jennings and #4 Baylor will play #13 Grand Canyon.

First up will be Lilly Taulelei and #11 Iowa State who will face Princeton in a First Four tie on Wednesday March 19.

Unfortunately we won’t see Charlisse Leger-Walker in action as she continues her rehab from the ACL injury she suffered last year but her UCLA Bruins are the overall number one seed at the tournament.

A number of New Zealander’s missed out on the Big Dance but will still be involved in tournament play.

The Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT) is an invite only tournament for teams that were regular season champions plus others including the first four teams out of the NCAA Tournament.

All First round games will be played on Thursday March 20:

Portland (Emme Shearer) v #2 Stanford

Hawaii (Ritorya Tamilo and Rebecca Moors v UNLV

Gonzaga (Tayla Dalton and Lauren Whittaker) v UTSA

There is also Kiwi interest at the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).

March 20

Saint Mary’s (Maia Jones) v Texas Southern

March 21

Siena (Zoe Richardson) v Howard

Date TBC

Central Arkansas (Leah Mafua) v Abilene Christian or Northwestern State

At the Men’s NIT UC Irvine (redshirt Akiva McBirney-Griffin) host Northern Colorado on March 19

Meanwhile at the inaugural College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas Georgetown (redshirt Julius Halaifonua) will take on Washington State on March 31.

Emme Shearer is on the verge of setting a new mark for games played In the latest NCAA Division I roundup while Ben Gold set a new career points scoring mark (see later in the article). These stories and more as we wrap up another week of college hoops.

NB Bracketed numbers indicate conference win/loss records.

Fittingly, on the occasion she equaled the record for the most games ever played by a Kiwi in NCAA Division I basketball, Emme Shearer bagged a career high 28 points as Portland (17-3) edged to a 94-88 overtime win at Pacific.

Shearer now holds the record alongside Wellingtonian Tegan Graham who in her time at Colgate University (2017-20) and BYU (2020-22) amassed 153 appearances. Shearer will be able to claim the outright record when the West Coast Conference Tournament gets underway next week in Las Vegas.

The win gave Portland co-ownership of the WCC regular season title along with Gonzaga (also boasting a 17 wins – 3 loss record) who beat Santa Clara 68-61, Tayla Dalton with 6 points for the Zags.

Also in the WCCMaia Jones was in terrific form for St Mary’s (10-10) as the Gaels reversed a 17-point half-time deficit to beat Oregon State 69-66. Jones finished with 27 points, 6 assists, 4 steals, 3 rebounds and a block.

Shawnessy Nordstrom posted 5 assists and a season high 13 points (3/5 3PG) as California Baptist (8-5) defeated Seattle 81-68.

Mackenzie Chatfield also dished 5 assists, to go with 11 points, as Western Kentucky (12-4) wrapped up an 85-68 victory over New Mexico State.

Dani Bayes scored 10 points as Boise State (6-11) were grounded 75-68 by Air Force.

Leah Mafua scored 10 points as Central Arkansas moved to 15-2 with a 63-59 success against Easter Kentucky. Central Arkansas will be the #2 seed at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships.

Izzy Pugh had 9 points and 5 rebounds as Wisconsin Milwaukee (5-15) rounded out Horizon League action with an 82-46 defeat against league leaders Purdue Fort Wayne.

Another former Westlaker, Hannah Richardson, also scored 9 points for St Bonaventure in their 67-57 loss to Dayton.

Lilly Parke scored 8 points as unbeaten Fairleigh Dickinson (15-0) continued to chew up Northeast Conference opposition with a 73-46 dissection of Long Island.

NCAA Division I Men:

Ben Gold scored a career high 17 points (7/9FG, 3/5 3PG) as Marquette (13-5) romped to an 82-52 win against Providence and followed up with 15 points in a 76-61 win at Georgetown. Gold now has 501 career points – just the 21^st New Zealander to score over 500 points in NCAA Division I men’s basketball.

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones scored a team high 21 points as UC San Diego (16-2) maintained top spot on the Big West Conference table by steam rolling Cal State Fullerton 100-55. That’s the 17^th time in 30 games that Tait-Jones has scored 20 points or more.

Tom Beattie added 6 rebounds to a dozen points as Hawaii (7-11) secured a home win against UC Davis 78-70.

Taine Murray scored 9 points (4/8FG) as Virginia (7-11) grabbed an 83-75 win at Wake Forest in his 92^nd appearance for Virginia.

Finn Lally also scored 9 points off the bench for William & Mary (11-6) in their 88-73 loss against Towson.

In the latest NCAA Division I roundup we celebrate Ben Gold playing his 100^th game and Aniwaniwa Tait Jones scoring his 1,000^th point whilst in women’s action Emme Shearer played game number 150.

NB Bracketed numbers indicate conference win/loss records.

Ben Gold became the 18^th Kiwi to play 100 Men’s NCAA Division I games when Marquette 11-5) visited Villanova.

On the floor it wasn’t such a good night with the Golden Eagles beaten 81-66 and Gold finishing with 3 points.

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones posted a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds as UC San Diego (13-2) defeated Cal Poly 81-67.

He then repeated the 19-point output as UCSD proved way too strong for Tom Beattie (2 points) and Hawaii with a crushing 83-44 win.

Against Hawaii AT-J became just the 7^th Kiwi to score 1,000 points in Men’s NCAA Division I basketball.

In case you are wondering the others are;

Kirk Penney – 1,454pts

Callum McRae – 1,263pts

Tai Webster – 1,116pts

Craig Bradshaw 1,114pts

Kruz Perrott-Hunt 1,104pts

Flynn Cameron 1,028pts

Remarkably Tait-Jones has scored his 1,000 points in just two seasons with those above needing four years to pass the mark.

A couple of Kiwis went head to head in the Atlantic 10 Conference with Hunter Adam’s (8 points and 4 rebounds) Davidson College defeating Zach Riley’s (3 points and 3 rebounds) Fordham University 80-69.

Sophomore Hunter Adam scored a season high 11 points – which doubles as a career high – as Davidson (5-8) went down 77-69 to Loyola Chicago. Adam, who added 5 rebounds, was an efficient 3 from 4 from both the floor and the foul line.

On his Senior Day Mason Whittaker scored with his only attempt from the field and added three rebounds and a steal as American (12-4) edged Boston in the Patriot League.

Playing her 150^th game in a Portland uniform Emme Shearer scored a team high 21 points in an 81-65 defeat of San Diego. She followed that with 12 points as Portland moved to joint first on the West Coast Conference ladder with a 15-3 record after downing Santa Clara 73-66.

Dani Bayes matched her season high with 21 points as Boise State (6-9) beat Wyoming 78-73.The junior guard shot 8 of 13 from the floor including 2 out of 4 from beyond the arc. Defensively she again matched her season best with 3 steals.

Leah Mafua top scored for Central Arkansas with 17 points but the Sugar Bears (13-2) lost just their second Atlantic Sun Conference game of the season going down 95-71 to Florida Gulf Coast.

Maia Jones, on 6 from 10 shooting, scored 15 points as St Mary’s College (9-9) went down 60-53 to West Coast Conference joint-leaders Gonzaga for whom Tayla Dalton scored 6 points.

Lilly Parke scored 12 points as unbeaten Fairleigh Dickinson (13-0) clinched the Northeast Conference regular season title with a 60-33 demolition of Saint Francis.

Waiata Jennings played a season high 26 minutes and scored 7 points as Baylor (13-2) beat Colorado 84-62.

Missed from last week’s roundup is acknowledgement that Ritorya Tamilo now owns the University of Hawaii’s women’s record for blocked shots in a season by a freshman. She has 34 and counting with Hawaii (14-2) atop the Big West Conference standings.

Mackenzie Chatfield had a team high 5 assists to accompany 4 points as Western Kentucky (9-4) beat Sam Houston 57-45.

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Emme Shearer Leah Mafua, Maia Jones and Lilly Parke each ticked off milestone numbers as their respective teams continued their winning ways.

NB Bracketed numbers indicate conference win/loss record.

Tait-Jones scored 20 points to pace UC San Diego (12-2) to a 73-54 win against CSU Bakersfield. That was followed by 16 points in an equally comfortable 85-60 victory over UC Davis.

With 971 career points Tait-Jones passes Mark Dickel (945) and Izayah Le’afa (941) to jump from 10^th to 8^th on the all-time career scoring by Kiwis in Men’s NCAA Division I hoops.

Emme Shearer and Maia Jones were outstanding in the Portland against St Mary’s tussle. Portland recovered from a 14-point deficit to pip the Gaels 71-69. Jones had 11 points, 4 assists and 2 steals for the Gaels as she brought up 500 career points.

Meanwhile Shearer equaled her career high with 26 points. Those 26 points pushed Shearer beyond the 1,500 career points mark – ahead of Megan Compain (1,497pts) – and up to 4^th on the all-time list for career scoring by Kiwis in Women’s NCAA Division I hoops.

Leah Mafua scored 15 points as Central Arkansas completed a convincing 73-51 win against North Alabama. Mafua added 6 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and a steal as she brought up 600 career points in her second season at Central Arkansas.

The former Hutt Valley High standout followed that with a team high 18 points as Central Arkansas (13-1) made it 12 straight wins with a 77-67 defeat of Austin Peay.

Meanwhile Lilly Parke scored her 500^th point in her 54^th game (all starts) for Fairleigh Dickinson (11-0). Parke had 11 points in FDU’s narrow 74-70 win against Chicago State.

Ritorya Tamilo scored a conference best 15 points, to accompany 7 rebounds and 2 blocks, as Hawaii made it 12 wins on the bounce by defeating Long Beach State 72-65.

Then in a battle between the top two teams in the Big West Conference Tamilo secured a game high 10 rebounds to go with 8 points and 2 bocks as Hawaii (13-2) saw off the challenge of UC Irvine (10-4) to win a low scoring contest 49-44. Olivia Williams with 5 points for UCI.

Helen Matthews scored 16 points as Wofford (7-3) survived a fourth quarter fight back from Western Carolina to squeeze home 70-68.

Dani Bayes scored 11 points as Boise State (5-8) went down 88-83 after overtime against New Mexico.

Shawnessy Nordstrom also scored 11 points, on 4 from 7 shooting, as California Baptist won 90-79 against Texas Arlington.

Back to men’s action and Hunter Adam added 6 rebounds to 10 points (one point shy of equaling his season best) as Davidson College (5-6) beat Massachusetts 77-68.

Will Shortt scored 9 points as Niagara led all the way to beat Canisius 71-60.

Tom Beattie scored 8 points as Hawaii (6-8) held on to beat Long Beach State 62-60.

Freshman Kaia Berridge equalled his season best with 6 points as Evansville (7-9) beat Valparaiso 79-69.

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones and Emme Shearer continue advancing up New Zealand’s all-time lists while Leah Mafua produced a career best performance – details below.

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones and UC San Diego are flying high after his 22 points helped seal a convincing 85-67 win at UC Irvine. The victory sees San Diego join Irvine at the top of the Big West Conference standings – both teams with 10-2 records.

A couple of days earlier Tait-Jones scored a team high 28 points to go with 7 rebounds, 4 assists a block and a steal as the Tritons inflicted a 91-71 defeat on UC Riverside.

The last six games have seen the former St Pat’s College wing tally 32, 25,32,16,28 and 22 points.

Averaging 20.0 points per game AT-J has passed 900 career points and move into 10^th position of New Zealand all-time scorers in Men’s NCAA Division I basketball. His points per game sees him ranked 18^th amongst all players in men’s Division I in that statistical category.

Emme Shearer made a pair free-throws with 18 seconds remaining to propel Portland to victory. Shearer finished with 12 points as Portland (10-3) eventually prevailed 66-64 against win-less San Diego.

Shearer was playing her 146^th game for Portland and passed Kendell Heremaia’s record of 145 games to now sit outright second on the all-time list of NCAA Division I appearances by a Kiwi. Barring injury Shearer will pass Tegan Graham’s record of 153 appearances in early March.

Leah Mafua tied her career high with 24 points as Central Arkansas (10-1) maintained its impressive start to the season with a 76-65 win at Jacksonville. Mafua followed that with 21 points (5/11FG, 11/14FT) as Central Arkansas continued its winning ways by downing North Florida 72-59.

Maia Jones shot an efficient 5 from 7 from the field and 4 from 5 from the charity stripe for 15 points as St Mary’s lost 69-58 to West Coast Conference leaders Gonzaga (11-2).

Against the team she played 4-years for Tayla Dalton had 4 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists for Gonzaga.

Jones then led St Mary’s (8-6) to a bounce back win against San Francisco, scoring 19 points in the 52-49 victory.

Hawaii (11-2) recorded a 10^th straight win in downing Cal Poly 67-43 with Tall Fern Ritorya Tamilo posting 13 points and 7 rebounds.

In also scoring 13 points (4/8FG), Dani Bayes brought up 700 career points at Boise State (5-6) as the Broncos lost 69-61 to Nevada.

Despite St Bonaventure (1-12) having its struggles Hannah Richardson is making the most of her opportunities. The freshman, formerly of Westlake Girls High, improved her season high in successive games. She made 11 points in the 81-54 loss to Massachusetts and followed up with 13 in the 58-49 defeat against George Washington.

Returning after a two-month lay-off due to injury Shawnessy Nordstrom led the scoring for California Baptist (5-4) with 10 points in its 84-55 loss to Grand Canyon.

Lily Parke is sitting on 499 career points after making 7 points as Fairleigh Dickinson (9-0) maintained their position at the top of the Northeast Conference standings with a 54-41 road win at Wagner.

In other men’s news former Auckland Grammar standout Will Shortt scored a season high 10 points as Niagara (4-8) stunned Metro Athletic Conference leaders Quinnipiac to win 76-65.

This week we recognize the major milestones brought up by Helen Matthews and Emme Shearer and also have news of a career performance from Taine Murray.

In her 100^th appearance for Wofford College Helen Matthews scored 10 points in their narrow 57-54 win against Tennessee at Chattanooga. Matthews becomes the 32^nd Kiwi to play 100 games in NCAA Division I Women’s hoops.

The Cantabrian then made 15 points as Wofford (6-1) suffered their first conference defeat going down 63-50 to East Tennessee State.

Emme Shearer set a new record in Portland’s women’s programme history by playing her 144^th game for the Pilots in a 66-58 win against St Mary’s. At the same time she also set a new career mark of 10 assists as well as adding 7 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals and 2 blocks. 

For St Mary’s, Maia Jones, in her 50^th appearance for the Gaels matched Shearer’s half-dozen steals haul and also posted 11 points and 3 assists.

Shearer then scored a game high 24 points as Portland (9-3) eased away from Pepperdine to win 76-52.

Making 4 from 9 from beyond the arc Danni Bayes scored 18 points – one point shy of equaling her season best – as Boise State (5-4) won 89-80 at New Mexico.

Leah Mafua contributed 14 points and 6 assists as Central Arkansas moved to 8-1 in Atlantic Sun Conference play after a narrow 67-64 win against West Georgia.

Emilee Tahata, with 13 points (6/10FG), 6 rebounds and 3 assists, played a big part in Rider (3-8) squeezing past Merrimack 65-63.

Olivia Williams scored 10 points to help UC Irvine (8-2) defeat Long Beach State 61-47.

Tayla Dalton had 9 points and 7 rebounds as Gonzaga (9-2) defeated San Diego 64-48 to make it eight wins on the bounce.

Izzy Pugh also tallied 9 points in Wisconsin Milwaukee’s 89-81 loss to Cleveland State.

Lilly Parke added 7 rebounds to 8 points as Fairleigh Dickinson made it 7-0 in conference play with a commanding 75-45 win against Mercyhurst.

Taine Murray scored a career high 20 points, to accompany 7 assists, as Virginia (3-8) recorded an 82-71 road win at Miami. Murray was an impressive 8 from 12 from the field including 4 from 6 from beyond the arc.

The former Harbour standout followed up with 10 points as Virginia were edged out by Virginia Tech 75-74.

In a game featuring two Kiwis UC San Diego saw off the challenge of Hawaii to win 74-63.

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones had 16 points and 9 rebounds for UCSD while Tom Beattie, playing his 50th game for Hawaii tallied 6 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

Tom Beattie, on 7 from 10 shooting, scored 14 points and dished 5 assists as Hawaii (5-6) snapped a three game losing streak in downing California State Fullerton 82-57.

Zach Riley was also highly efficient as Fordham (2-6) beat La Salle 88-72. Riley had 7 points, making 3 from 5 from the field, and also claimed 5 rebounds.

Finn Lally scored 10 points – his second double figure outing of the season – despite William & Mary getting pounded 96-55 by Campbell.

In our latest NCAA Division I roundup we report on some high scoring efforts from Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Helen Matthews, Maia Jones and note milestone performances from Emme Shearer and Lilly Parke.

Shearer celebrated her birthday in style as Portland won 83-65 at Washington State. Shearer scored a game high 24 points and taking her career tally to 1,450 points. This meant she passed the 1,439 points scored by Stella Beck (St Mary’s College 2014-18), also in the West Coast Conference, and moved her up to fifth on the all-time list of Kiwi scorers in NCAA Division I basketball.

Still ahead of Shearer are Charlisse Leger-Walker (1,743 points), Erin Rooney (1,647), Akiene-Tera Reed (1,624) and Megan Compain (1,497). In addition Shearer has now played 143 games in her career, tied for the most in Portland’s women’s programme history.

Also in the West Coast Conference there were consecutive 23-point outings from Maia Jones. The first included 11 points scored in the crucial fourth period as St Mary’s College, California (7-3) beat San Diego 72-63. It wasn’t such a good outcome on Saturday for St Mary’s with the Gaels trumped 74-67 in overtime by Santa Clara – Jones adding a trio of rebounds, assists and steals in that one..

Helen Matthews scored 20 points and added 7 boards and 3 assists as Wofford used a second half surge to beat Mercer 61-51. “I think I have been more deliberate in getting to the rim and getting to the free-throw line. I think when I do that it makes it harder for the other team and it worked for me tonight”, said the Cantabrian guard.

Matthews followed that with 15 points, 5 boards and 3 assists as Wofford improved to 5-0 – its best start to conference play in programme history – after an 84-49 demolition of Samford.

On the occasion of her 50^th appearance – all starts – Lilly Parke was in sparkling form as Fairleigh Dickinson (6-0) beat Stonehill 72-54. Parke added 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals to a team high 17 points.

In a clash between two of the top sides in the Big West Conference that both featured Kiwis it was Hawaii (7-2), with Ritorya Tamilo and Rebecca Moors, that defeated Olivia Williams’ UC Irvine (7-2) 46-42 in a low scoring contest. Tamilo was one of the standouts for Hawaii recording her first double-double; 11 points and 11 rebounds to accompany a game high 3 blocks.

Another fine all- court performance from Leah Mafua helped Central Arkansas (6-1) hold off Lipscomb for a narrow 71-69 win. Mafua finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block.

Mackenzie Chatfield, promoted to the starting five, produced her first career double-double (13 points and 10 rebounds) as Western Kentucky (5-2) made it five straight wins with their 82-49 success against Sam Houston.

Freshman Hannah Richardson scored a season high 10 points – one of only two St Bonaventure players in double figures – as the Bonnies (1-7) were beaten 83-56 by Saint Joseph’s.

Dani Bayes made 2 from 4 three on her way to 9 points as Boise State (4-4) lost 79-70 to Colorado State.

Lilly Taulelei scored a season high 6 points as Iowa State (6-3) bagged a comfortable 90-56 win against Central Florida.

Having scored a career best 32 points the previous week Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones matched that figure, on 10 from 14 from the field and 12 from 13 from the free-throw line as UC San Diego (7-2) defeated of California State Northridge. Tait-Jones is averaging 19.7ppg and has tallied 89 points in his last three games.

Ben Gold made 3 from 5 threes in his 11-point outing as #10 Marquette won 76-59 at Seton Hall and then had a double of 8 points and 9 rebounds in an 87-74 defeat of Villanova to improve the Marquette record to 8-1 in the Big East Conference.

January 22

This week’s NCAA Division I roundup is littered with milestones and standout performances and we begin with the prolific Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones who continues to rack up big numbers whilst steadily climbing up the ranks of all-time career numbers by a Kiwi.

UC San Diego Tritons (5-2) slipped to an 85-81 loss at UC Riverside but it didn’t prevent Tait-Jones continuing his prolific scoring form. He made a career high 32 points, the second highest individual score by a Triton in the programme’s Division I era.

Now with 812 career points Tait-Jones becomes just the 11^th Kiwi to score over 800 points in Men’s NCAA Division I basketball. To get in the top 10 he needs to pass the 896 points scored by current BNZ Breakers forward Sam Mennenga in his three years at Davidson College (2020-23).

Playing his 90^th game for Marquette, Ben Gold made a career high tying 4 three-pointers on his way to 14 points as the Golden Eagles (6-1) won 85-83 in an overtime thriller at DePaul. Gold is the 21^st kiwi to make 90 Men’s NCAA Division I appearances.

Tafara Gapare scored 9 points as Maryland (4-4) were pipped 76-74 in overtime by Northwestern.

Tom Beattie also tallied 9 points as Hawaii (4-3) dropped a home encounter against Cal State Northridge 83-60.

Another 9-point outing was registered by Nick Book as South Carolina Upstate (1-4) fell 97-68 to Gardner Webb. Book was a force on the boards with a season high 8 rebounds.

Former Christ’s College standout Hunter Adam saw his 50^th appearance for Davidson College (2-3) end in disappointment as Davidson were pipped at the death by Rhode Island 92-90. Adam had 2 points and 4 rebounds in the contest.

Women’s NCAA Division I

It was a terrifically efficient performance from Leah Mafua that led Central Arkansas to a 67-53 victory against North Florida. Mafua, on 4 from 6 from deep and 6 out of 6 from the foul line, scored a career high 24 points, hoovered up 12 rebounds, dished 4 assists and snared 3 steals.

Mafua made it a fine double as she totalled 18 points and 7 assists as Central Arkansas (5-1) won a home contest against Stetson 85-64. That’s eight consecutive double figure outings for the Wellingtonian who has passed 200 points this season.

Helen Matthews paced Wofford College (3-0) to a 66-53 home win against Western Carolina. Matthews was one point short of a career high in scoring 24 points on 7 of 11 from the field and 9 out of 10 from the foul line. The Cantabrian also added 7 rebounds, a pair of assists and two blocks.

Fairleigh Dickinson are 5-0 in the Northeast Conference after downing Central Connecticut 75-58 with Lilly Parke scoring 14 points (4/9FG, 5/5FT) in the win.

For the second time this month Portland (6-3) were pipped at the post by Gonzaga (6-2) going down 66-65. That meant it was all smiles for Tayla Dalton (2 points and 8 rebounds) while Emme Shearer (13 points and 5 rebounds) will rue another missed opportunity. 

Making her 127^th Division I game Dalton moved past Amiee Book (CSU Fullerton 2018-21, Fresno State 2021-23) into 10^th spot on the New Zealand all-time list for Women’s Division I appearance .

A couple of days later Shearer and Portland bounced back from the loss in emphatic fashion winning 86-61 at Oregon State. The former Harbour guard had 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in the win.

Also in West Coast conference play Maia Jones pulled down a career high 9 rebounds to accompany 8 points as St Mary’s (6-2) dominated the second half against Pepperdine to win 56-41.

Also with 8 points was UC Irvine wing Olivia Williams – UCI (6-1) with a tight 68-66 win against Cal Poly.

Dani Bayes scored 11 points and plucked 5 rebounds as Boise State (4-3) won 93-64 against San Jose State.

Ritorya Tamilo also scored 11 points as Hawaii (5-2) won 75-47 at Cal State Northridge.

Hannah Richardson was just a single point shy of her season best in scoring 8 points for St Bonaventure in its heavy loss at Richmond (98-60).