Emme Shearer has become the 18th Kiwi to score 1,000 points in Women’s NCAA Division I basketball.
With 3:09 left in the Portland Pilots West Coast Conference game at Santa Clara, Shearer converted a baseline in-bounds play to bring up the major milestone in her 115th appearance for the Pilots.
The former Westlake Girls High School and North Harbour wing is averaging a team high 12 points per game in her senior year. In addition, with three steals, she snared her 200th career steal in the contest – she leads the West Coast Conference in that statistical category.
Below are New Zealand’s All-Time Top-24 points scorers in Women’s NCAA Division I basketball and includes some of our finest Tall Ferns players, both past and present.
1,743
*Charlisse Leger-Walker (Washington State 2020-present)
Charlisse Leger-Walker has become New Zealand’s all-time NCAA Division I (male or female) points scorer despite Washington State University Cougars going down 74-65 at #8 Stanford in Pac-12 Conference play.
A deep three from Leger-Walker, on the brink of half-time, was the score that carried the WSU standout past the previous record of 1,647 points held by Cantabrian and former Tall Fern Erin Rooney (Monmouth University Hawks, 2009-11/Fordham University Rams, 2012-14).
Leger-Walker was all class in the defeat making 5 from 10 three-pointers on her way to a game high 22 points along with 9 rebounds and 4 assists. She now has 1,667 career points in 99 appearances with her 100th game for the Cougars coming up on Monday against the University of California, Berkeley.
Her 100th game will see the Waikato native become the 27th Kiwi to bring up a century of appearances in Women’s NCAA Division I basketball, emulating the milestone achieved by sister Krystal Leger-Walker (Washington State 2020-22/Northern Colorado 2015-18).
All time New Zealand NCAA Division I Top scorers: ( #played 5 seasons including the additional Covid year)
1,667
Charlisse Leger-Walker (Washington State 2020-present)
1,647
Erin Rooney (Monmouth University, 2009-11/Fordham University 2012-14)
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.
A triple-double from Charlisse Leger-Walker, her first since her championship winning days back in Cambridge at St Peter’s School, headlines the Kiwi performances over the busy Thanksgiving period in American college hoops.
Charlisse posted 11 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists as Washington State University trumped Maryland 87-67 at the Cancun Challenge in Mexico on Thanksgiving Day.
Despite WSU going down 59-48 to Green Bay on the final day of the Cancun Challenge Leger-Walker was still named Tournament MVP after totalling 39 points, 28 rebounds and 17 assists in three games.
The University of Massachusetts didn’t enjoy the same degree of success in the Cancun Challenge although freshman Lilly Taulelei had the satisfaction of scoring a career high 14 points, on 6 from 8 from the field, in the 92-63 loss to Maryland.
There were also career highs from Leah Mafua and Emme Shearer over the weekend.
Mafua, with 19 points (3/6 3PG, 4/5FT), top scored for the University of Central Arkansas as they won 90-84 at Denver. She followed that with 12 points in the narrow 67-65 loss to Nevada.
Shearer equaled her career high in scoring 21 points (7/11FG, 2/2 3PG) although Portland were pipped at the buzzer by Northern Arizona going down 66-65.
Tayla Dalton top scored for St Mary’s College (3-4) with 11 points as the Gaels slipped to a 62-51 home defeat at the hands of Illinois State.
Kaylee Smiler added a season high 7 assists to 8 points as BYU made it a 6-0 start to the season with a comfortable 74-58 win against Loyola Marymount.
Scoring 9 points, Dani Bayes passed 300 career points as Boise State beat Rutgers 68-65.
Lilly Parke also posted 9 points, to go with a team high 8 rebounds, as Fairleigh Dickinson (1-5) gained their first win of the season, defeating Rider 64-59. Parke leads the team in rebounding over the first six games averaging 5.3 boards per game.
In men’s Division I action Ben Gold (6 points) sunk a couple of dagger threes as Marquette, ranked #4 in the country, downed #1 Kansas in the semi-final of the prestigious Allstate Maui Invitational Tournament in Honolulu.
Marquette would go on to lose the final to #2 Purdue (78-75) but demonstrated they have the capacity to take on the very best teams this season.
Ahmed Essahatay made 3 from 5 triples in his 11 points as Long Island defeated A&M Corpus Christi 83-68.
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones had 10 points and 5 rebounds but couldn’t prevent San Diego (4-3) going down 79-67 to Seattle.
Maia Jones scored a team high 12 points as St Mary’s College, California slipped to a 73-62 loss at Rice. In just her fourth game for St Mary’s Jones made 4 from 5 from the field including 2 from 3 from deep.
Also for St Mary’s Tayla Dalton contributed a team high 4 assists to go with 6 points and is now just two points shy of 700 career points.
Another freshman with a season high was Lilly Taulelei. She scored 8 points off the bench for Massachusetts but the Minutewomen were defeated 74-62 at Monmouth.
At the other end of her collegiate career Charlisse Leger-Walker top scored with 17 points as #23 Washington State comfortably defeated Prairie View 81-43 for a fifth straight win. WSU now head to Mexico for the Cancun challenge over Thanksgiving weekend.
Kaylee Smiler, a former Waikato rep alongside CL-W, was a perfect 3 from 3 from beyond the arc as BYU made it four wins on the bounce to open the season with a comfortable 67-44 win against Wake Forrest in the sunny climes of Hawaii. Smiler finished with 10 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, a block and a rebound.
Tall Fern guard Grace Hunter also filled the stats line as Cal State Bakersfield accounted for Fresno State in a tight one, 65-63. Hunter added a game high 7 assists to 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and a block.
Lilly Parke maintained her season average with 11 points in Fairleigh Dickinson’s 60-45 loss to Georgetown.
In Men’s Division I play Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones continued his fine start to his Division I career with 19 points as UC San Diego sailed past Navy to win 73-55 and improve to 4-0 on the season. Jones collected his points on an efficient 7 from 8 from the field plus 5 from 8 at the foul line while also pulling down 6 rebounds.
A belated congratulations to Emme Shearer who, with 7 points against Villanova last weekend, took her career points tally past the 700 points mark. Amongst current New Zealand players in NCAA Division I basketball she is the second highest scorer behind Charlisse Leger-Walker.
Shearer followed that with a career high 7 steals to accompany 16 points as Portland were easy winners against Warner Pacific (86-49). Another former Harbour Basketball rep Flo Dallow was also prominent for Portland with a season best 14 points.
Another of Shearer’s former Harbour Basketball teammates, Tayla Dalton, is not far short of 700 points herself. Dalton made the first two baskets of the game and went on to make 10 points as St Mary’s College Gaels saw off the UC Irvine challenge to win a low scoring encounter 52-37. The Tall Ferns guard now has 690 career points.
Talking of Charlisse Leger-Walker, she scored 19 points as Washington State, ranked #24 in the nation, eased to a 61-49 win at Montana.
Freshman Vitolia Tuilave produced her first collegiate double-double as Wofford College eased to an 82-52 win against North Carolina Central. The Tauranga native finished with 17 points (8/11FG) and a dozen rebounds.
Former Baradene College standout Lilly Parke was only one point shy of a double-double in Fairleigh Dickinson’s 49-44 loss to Bucknell. Parke finished with 9 points and 10 rebounds – her 4 offensive boards a game high.
Dani Bayes, with 13 points, was the leading scorer for Boise State as they dominated Weber State with a 76-47 win. Kaitlin Burgess, working her way back to game fitness after missing the bulk of last season through injury added 3 points for Boise.
In Men’s Division I action Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones made double figures for the third consecutive game as UC San Diego pasted La Verne 116-57. Tait-Jones finished with 15 points (4/5FG, 7/8FT).
Tom Beattie scored 12 points on debut for the University of Hawaii as they beat local rivals Hawaii at Hilo 82-66.
Charlisse Leger-Walker and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones produced the two standout performances by Kiwis in NCAA Division I basketball over the weekend.
After scoring 26 points in Washington State’s 77-72 overtime win against Gonzaga, Leger-Walker moved to within three of 1500 career points as she tied Megan Compain’s 1,497 career points at St Joseph’s (1993-97).
With 6 points in the 64-47 win against Idaho State on Sunday, Leger-Walker passed the 1,500 points mark and in the process moved to third on the all-time list of NZ scorers in NCAA basketball. Only Tera Reed (1,624 points) and Erin Rooney (1,647) are ahead of KL-W.
Meanwhile Tait-Jones followed up his near triple double performance on his UC San Diego debut to register 21 points and 8 rebounds in his second game as the Tritons edged the local derby against San Diego 69-63.
Incidentally Tait-Jones is putting up significant numbers. Having scored 1,061 points at Hawaii at Hilo (NCAA Division II) he is now up to 1,096 career collegiate points.
Back to the women’s game and fellow Wellingtonian Grace Hunter top scored for Cal State Bakersfield in their 67-54 loss to Pacific. The Tokomanawa Queens and Tall Ferns guard posted 15 points and 3 assists.
Lilly Parke followed up her 11-point effort on debut for Fairleigh Dickinson with 15 points in the 71-63 loss to Army West Point.
Vitolia Tuilave, in just her second collegiate game, scored 14 points and pulled down 8 rebounds as Wofford College defeated Erskine 85-47.
Leah Mafua led the Central Arkansas scoring with 15 points but the Purples were pipped 65-62 by Samford.
Playing her 107th game for BYU Kaylee Smiler scored 10 points (4/6FG) including 2 from 3 from beyond the arc. A renowned defender she also snared 6 rebounds and tied her career high of 4 blocks.
On her first appearance for Portland, after redshirting the 2022-23 season, Flo Dallow scored 9 points in the 64-42 loss to Villanova.
Another freshman Hunter Adam, in his third game for Davidson College, scored 9 points in their narrow 68-65 loss to Clemson.
LACEY LOWDOWN 