LACEY LOWDOWN

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 50^th game – and 50^th 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.

January 8

Tayla Dalton has become the 19^th Kiwi to score 1,000 points in Women’s NCAA Division I basketball and the fourth Harbour player after Akiene-Tera Reed, Emme Shearer and Micaela Cocks.

Dalton played 119 games for St Mary’s College, California where in a four-year career (2019-24) she enjoyed 83 starts and amassed 965 points, 276 rebounds, 203 assists and 144 steals.

Her career scoring performance came against Loyola Marymount when she put up 27 points.

Taking advantage of the additional Covid year Dalton is spending her fifth and final collegiate year at West Coast Conference (WCC) rivals Gonzaga University. Her Bulldogs debut was delayed until late December due to a stress fracture injury but since her debut against WCC leaders San Francisco, Gonzaga have won three of its last four games.

Critically for Gonzaga they defeated last season’s champions Portland 76-71, a game in which Dalton went head to head with former Harbour teammate and good friend Emme Shearer.

The personal dual finished all square as both players were prominent in scoring 14 points apiece.

The most recent Bulldogs victory was a comprehensive 82-56 win against Santa Clara – Dalton’s 5 points enough to take her to the heady heights of the 1,000 career mark.

Full list of New Zealand Women’s NCAA Division I 1,000 points scorers:

• 1,743 *Charlisse Leger-Walker (Washington State 2020-24, UCLA 2024-present)        
• 1,647 Erin Rooney (Monmouth University Hawks, 2009-11/Fordham University Rams, 2012-14)        
• 1,624 #Akiene-Tera Reed (Virginia Commonwealth 2017-21, USC 2021-22)        
• 1,497 Megan Compain (St Joseph’s University Hawks, 1993-97)        
• 1,439 Stella Beck (St Mary’s College Gaels 2014-18)        
• 1,337 *#Emme Shearer (University of Portland, 2020-present)        
• 1,291 #Kendell Heremaia (Fordham University 2017-22)        
• 1,262 Rhaiah Spooner-Knight (Monmouth 17-18, Utah Valley 13-16)        
• 1,249 #Amiee Book (CSU Fullerton 2018-21, Fresno State 2021-23)        
• 1,209 #Tegan Graham (Colgate Uni 2016-20, BYU 2020-22)        
• 1,195 Micaela Cocks (University of Oregon Ducks, 2006-10)        
• 1,167 Ashleigh Karaitiana (University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine, 2012-16)        
• 1,144 Margaret Johns (Utah State University, 1979-83)        
• 1,096 Jillian Harmon (Stanford University Cardinals, 2005-09)        
• 1,089 Tessa Boagni (California State University, Northridge Matadors 2014-18)        
• 1,081 Josie Stockill (Colgate University Raiders, 2012-16)        
• 1,032 #Krystal Leger-Walker (Washington State 2020-22, Northern Colorado 2015-18)        
• 1,006 Chevannah Paalvast (Monmouth University Hawks, 2010-14)        
• 1,000 *#Tayla Dalton (St Mary’s 2019-24, Gonzaga (2024 – present)

# Players with 5-year collegiate careers.

In other Division I news Helen Matthews, in scoring 11 points, passed 700 career points as Wofford College won an utterly one sided non-conference contest against Erskine 107-35.

Leah Mafua came up big for Central Arkansas (1-1) as the Sugar Bears opened Atlantic Sun Conference play with a 74-63 win against Jacksonville. The former Hutt Valley High School standout stuffed the stats line with 15 points (3/4 3PG), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block. She followed that with 11 points in the 68-60 loss to Bellarmine.

Dani Bayes, playing on New Years Day, kicked off 2025 in style as Boise State (1-2) enjoyed their first Mountain West victory with a 66-55 home win against Air Force. Bayes finished with 13 points on 3 from 4 from deep and a perfect 4 out of 4 from the free-throw line.

Maia Jones scored a dozen points and pinched a couple of steals as St Mary’s (4-1) saw their unbeaten start to West Coast Conference play come to an end after suffering an 87-73 loss at San Francisco.

Lilly Parke also scored 12 points as Fairleigh Dickinson got Northeast Conference play off to a winning start with a comfortable 75-59 home win against Wagner.

Olivia Williams made her 50^th start for UC Irvine (2-1), although unfortunately the game ended in defeat for the Big West Conference defending champions, beaten 59-54 at UC Riverside. Williams knocked down multiple threes for the third straight game in scoring 11 points.

Ella Brow scored 10 points (4/9FG) as Southern Methodist (1-2) pushed #10 Cal Berkeley all the way before going down 81-66.

Izzy Pugh scored 9 points as Wisconsin Milwaukee (1-5) secured its first Horizon League win of the season with a 75-50 home victory against Wright State.

Division I Men

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones continued his stellar form with 24 points (at a highly efficient 8/10 from the field and 8/8 from the free-throw line) as UC San Diego (3-0) toppled Cal State Fullerton. That’s now eight 20-plus scores in 15 games this season for the former St Pat’s wing.

Tom Beattie was just one points shy of his career high in scoring 15 points as Hawaii (1-2) secured its first Big West Conference win with a 68-55 success against Cal Poly.

Those 15 points took Beattie’s season tally to 100 and beyond 200 career points.

Zach Riley also brought up 200 career points as Fordham (0-2) slipped to an 86-66 loss to St Bonaventure – the former Rangitoto College standout with 5 points and a couple of steals.

Nic Book pulled down a career high equalling  9 rebounds to go with 2 points as South Carolina Upstate (0-1) were beaten 95-76 by Winthrop in its Big South Conference opener.

Number 8 ranked Marquette moved to 4-0 in the Big East with a 79-71 win against Creighton. Playing in front of a sell-out crowd of 17,700 Ben Gold posted 8 points, 6 rebounds and a couple of blocks in 28 minutes of action.

Isaiah Chappell knocked down two triples from two attempts in scoring 6 points as UC Davis (2-2) fell 73-61 to UC State Northridge.

Will Shortt led the Niagara rebounding count in its 68-62 loss to Mount Saint Mary’s.

The former Junior Tall Black, out of Auckland Grammar School, tallied 4 points, a couple of blocks and a career high 9 rebounds.

*Bracketed numbers are Conference play records

In NCAA Division I action Maia Jones had her second 20-point game of the season as St Mary’s won an overtime thriller at Pacific 80-78. Jones finished with a team high 23 points (7/11FG, 7/9FT) while also adding a trio of rebounds and steals.

The sophomore guard out of Nelson then had 8 points and 4 assists as St Mary’s (4-0) moved to the top of the West Coast Conference table with an 85-75 home win against San Diego.

Also in West Coast Conference play and also in overtime Tayla Dalton, in just her second game back after injury, had 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists as Gonzaga (2-2) slipped up at home losing 71-67 70 Oregon State in overtime.

Emme Shearer scored 21 points but Portland saw its unbeaten run end at 14 games as they were beaten at home 76-72 in overtime by Oregon State. It was Shearer’s 137^th appearance for Portland meaning she now sits equal 4^th alongside Kaylee Smiler (BYU, 2018-24) on the all-time list of games played by a Kiwi in Women’s NCAA Division I hoops.

Leah Mafua added 5 rebounds to 11 points as Central Arkansas, in its final hit out before Atlantic Sun Conference play, were defeated 87-70 by state rivals Arkansas. Mafua passed 300 career points during the game.

Helen Matthews scored 9 points and snared a couple of steals as Wofford, against the #2 ranked team in the nation South Carolina, were beaten 93-47.

Lilly Parke had 7 points and 4 rebounds as Fairleigh Dickinson (0-0) eased past Central Maine 66-48 at the FDU Christmas Classic.

Zoe Richardson scored a season best 6 points although Sienna fell 76-73 to Cornell in non-conference play.

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones rounded out a successful 2024 with 16 points as UC San Diego (2-0) thrashed Occidental 109-51 in a non-conference outing. Tait-Jones scored in double figures in all but three of the 34 games he played for the Tritons in the calendar year.

Highlighted by a 3 from 3 effort from beyond the arc Christ’s College alum Hunter Adam scored a career high 11 points as Davidson dropped its Atlantic 10 opener at George Mason 69-57.

Former Auckland Grammar standout Will Shortt posted a season high 8 points and 5 rebounds as Niagara (1-1) secured an 88-69 win over Le Moyne.

*Bracketed numbers are Conference play records

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 6^th Kiwi to pass 1,300 career points in NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball.

Ahead of her are:

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

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 18^th 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.

November 26

In a week of impressive Kiwi performances the Kiwi NCAA Division I performance of the week was claimed, narrowly, by University of Hawaii freshman Ritorya Tamilo with Maia Jones, Leah Mafua and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones falling into the highly recommended category.

At the Bank of Hawaii Classic in Honolulu Tamilo came up big for Hawaii in the 69-64 win against Louisiana-Monroe. In just her third collegiate game Tamilo finished with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks and 3 steals!

Also at the Bank of Hawaii Classic Maia Jones and St Mary’s College squeezed past Eastern Washington and Breeje Schuler 59-57.

Schuler had 10 points and 6 rebounds for EWU while Jones scored 9 points and dished 3 assists for the Saints.

Rounding out news from the Classic Jones continued her good early season form with a team 19 points – including 5 from 8 from beyond the arc – and 6 assists as St Mary’s defeated Louisiana Monroe 68-61.

Central Arkansas thumped Central Baptist 120-47 with Leah Mafua making a big impression in the win. The former Hutt Valley standout dished a career best 9 assists to go with season highs in points (17) and steals (6).

Emme Shearer scored a team high 18 points, making three triples in the process, as Portland won 85-66 against California Baptist. It was Shearer’s 127^th appearance moving her to 9^th on the all-time list of games played by a Kiwi in Women’s NCAA Division I basketball. She now has the likes of Penina Davidson (131), Tera Reed (135) and Krystal Leger-Walker (142) firmly in her sights.

In the loss freshman Shawnessy Nordstrom, in just her fifth collegiate game, scored 12 points (2/4 3PG) for Cal Baptist.

Helen Matthews, working her way back to full fitness after missing last season due to injury, scored a season high 17 points as Wofford College overcame High Point 71-65

Mackenzie Chatfield was a perfect 4 from 4, including 2 made threes, for 10 points as Western Kentucky beat North Dakota 74-69.

Dani Bayes scored 10 points as Boise State scraped a 59-57 win against San Francisco.

Lilly Parke scored 9 points as Fairleigh Dickinson got back to winning ways with a 67-50 victory against St Peter’s.

University of California Irvine beat Pennsylvania 72-68 in overtime after the scores had been locked at 63 points apiece in regulation. Olivia Williams scored 8 points for Irvine.

MEN

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones made 13 free throws on his way to a game high 21 points as UC San Diego beat James Maddison 73-67 and followed that with 19 points – making 8 from 10 from the field – as San Diego crushed Toledo 80-45 to take out the Boardwalk Battle Championship at Daytona Beach, Florida.

Ben Gold scored 11 points as #15 Marquette posted a significant 76-58 home win against #6 Purdue. He followed that with 14 points (making 4 from 9 threes) and 6 rebounds in an 80-69 win against Georgia.

Maryland strolled to a 108-37 win against Canisius with Tafara Gapare swallowing up a season high 9 rebounds to accompany 4 points.

November 19

The Kiwi NCAA Division I performance of the week went the way of Maia Jones with Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones the best of the men.

Women

Maia Jones amassed 28 points as St Mary’s Gaels won in double overtime on the road overcoming San Diego State 74-65. The combo guard hardly missed a shot making 10 from 11 from the field and all but one of her 8 free-throws. In case you are wondering her career high is 31 points.

A couple of days later the Gaels were facing UC Irvine which meant Jones was facing fellow Kiwi Olivia Williams – the pair having attended the Tall Ferns Selection Camp at Irvine earlier in the year.

Irvine eventually prevailed 64-61 with Williams making 4 from 6 threes for 14 points while Jones had 9 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists. The points from Williams took her past 300 career points.

Emilee Tahata scored a career high 16 points to go with 7 rebounds despite Rider University losing 62-54 to Bryant.

Lilly Parke made 4 from 7 threes on her way to 14 points and 5 rebounds as Fairleigh Dickinson were beaten 77-58 at Syracuse. The defeat comes after four straight wins by FDU to start the season.

Leah Mafua dropped 11 points and added 4 rebounds and a couple of blocks as Central Arkansas overcame UT Martin 87-67.

Boise State made it three wins from as many games after a 72-57 win against UC Riverside – Danni Bayes with 10 points for Boise.

Freshman Hannah Richardson, in just her third game for St Bonaventure, scored 9 points in a 92-41 loss to Bowling Green.

Emme Shearer had 8 points and 4 rebounds as Portland, now 3-0 at the start of the season, won 74-62 at Eastern Washington.

Waiata Jennings, after a record setting junior college career at Collin College scored her first NCAA Division I points as Baylor beat Texas A&M 104-55. The Rotorua local made both of her field goal attempts for 5 points.

Men

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones lit up the stats line with a game high 21 points to accompany 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals as UC San Diego defeated Sacramento State 64-54.

Tait-Jones passed 500 career points at UCSD and becomes the 20^th Kiwi to pass 500 NCAA Division I career points.

Now with 535 points after scoring another 20 in an 84-71 loss to Seattle he moved past Matt Freeman (531 points) and looks set to overtake Sean Marks (557) and Yanni Wetzell (560) in the very near future.

Tom Beattie made a critical 4 from 6 free throws in overtime as Hawaii defeated Pacific 73-68. Beattie scored 10 points, his fourth successive double figure score, while also adding 6 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and a block.

Hunter Adam passed 100 career points as Davidson edged East Tennessee State 76-70. The former Canterbury standout had a nice double of 8 points (3/4FG) and 8 rebounds.