Former New Zealand Junior Tall Ferns teammates Tera Reed and Kendell Heremaia don’t get a chance to catch up on a regular basis these days. Heremaia is in the heart of New York at Fordham University with Reed on the other side of the States at University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. However, the pair have found themselves in Mexico for Thanksgiving with their respective teams taking part in the Cancun Challenge.
On Friday (NZT) Heremaia top scored for the Rams (3-2) with 14 points (3/6 3PG) but Top-10 ranked Baylor proved too good winning 68-45.
In contrast USC (4-1) took care of business beating Seton Hall 79-56. Reed went scoreless, for the first time this season, but she did come up with 4 rebound and 4 assists for the Trojans.
Washington State (4-0) journeyed to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship where they blew past Miami Hurricanes 62-47.
Charlisse Leger-Walker corralled a career high 15 rebounds to accompany 13 points, 5 assists and 3 steals while Krystal L-W had 8 points, 4 dimes and 5 rebounds.
Tegan Graham and BYU Cougars (6-0) travelled to Florida for the St Pete Showcase pitching themselves against the highly touted Florida State from the America East Conference.
Playing on the Eckerd College court, where Tall Fern Zoe Richards made a name for herself and Hannah Wentworth is playing this season, BYU overcame a late surge from Florida State to win 61-54. Graham finished with a team high 4 assists, 5 points and deuces in blocks, steals and rebounds.
All five Kiwis will be in action again on Sunday (NZT).
Dan Fotu and Kruz Perrott-Hunt, fresh off career nights, were again in good form for their respective teams on Wednesday (NZT).
Fotu followed his 22-points haul on Tuesday with a team high 16 points (6/10FG) as St Mary’s knocked off another big fish beating Oregon Ducks 62-50.
The win advances the Gaels to the Maui Invitational Final against Wisconsin tomorrow.
Those points also mean that the former Rangitoto College standout becomes the 12th Kiwi to score 600 career points in Men’s NCAA Division I basketball – Callum McRae was the 11th New Zealander to pass that mark earlier in the week.
Perrott-Hunt is also having a good week. He scored a career best 25 points a couple of days ago and has followed that with 16 points (6/8FG, 3/5 3PG), 5 assists and 2 blocks as South Dakota Coyotes outplayed Presentation University Saints to win 99-58.
Tegan Graham was one of five BYU players in double figures as the Cougars beat Utah State 101-74. The Wellingtonian finished with 14 points, a game high 7 assists and 2 blocks.
Helen Matthews scored 9 points making 2 from 3 three-pointers but Wofford College Terriers went down to UNC Asheville 70-64. The former Canterbury Wildcats guard also came up with 4 rebounds, a couple of assists and a steal.
Fresno State 75 (Amiee Book 3pts & 4rebs) Cal State Northridge 79
Kruz Perrott-Hunt scored a career high 25 points as South Dakota knocked off Tennessee State 83-66. The former Harbour standout earned an incredible 16 free-throws and missed only one attempt while also knocking down a brace of triples as the Coyotes improved to 3-1 this season.
When Callum McRae scored from close range with 6:41 to play in UC Riverside’s encounter with the University of Texas at El Paso he became just the 11th Kiwi to score 600 career points in Men’s NCAA Division I basketball. McRae went on to record a game high 10 rebounds to go with his 4 points as Riverside immproved to 4-2 for the season.
Next in his sights will be Mike Karena who scored 616 points for Wright State between 2014-16.
Dan Fotu extended his career high for the second time this season as St Mary’s Gaels beat Notre Dame 62-59 at the Maui Invitational in Las Vegas. Described on the ESPN commentary as the best player on the court Fotu scored a game high 22 points (8/9FG, 3/3 3PG, 3/4FT) and also had 3 rebounds, a block and a steal.
Sam Mennenga pretty much scored his season average of 11.8 points per game as Davidson secured a 76-67 come from behind victory against East Carolina on the final day of the Myrtle Beach Classic. Mennenga finished with 11 points (5/8FG), 5 rebounds and a couple of assists in 31 minutes.
Colorado State 71 (James Moors 4pts, 1reb) Northeastern 61
The sisters L-W were again in good touch as Washington State carved out a 77-59 victory against Idaho. Krystal Leger-Walker dished a game high 6 assists to accompany 2 steals, 5 rebounds and 7 points. Charlisse Leger-Walker was equally effective with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists to go with a steal and a block.
Emme Shearer scored 11 points (4/7FG) for the second successive game as Portland University Pilots (4-1) navigated past Prairie View A&M 80-54 at the Bank of Hawaii Classic. She also snared 4 steals – that’s 15 in the first 5 games with the sophomore guard leading the way for the Pilots in that statistical category.
Kendell Heremaia made all six of her free-throws on the way to 8 points and 5 assists as Fordham University scored a notable 71-68 win against Michigan State.
Other Women’s results:
Virginia 57 (McKenna Dale 1reb, 1a, 1steal) UCLA 69
St Peter’s, New Jersey 52 (Victoria Ikenasio 3pts, 1reb) Howard 62
Top billing in Junior College action this week goes to Samantha Jenkins for her 30-point outburst with highly commendable notations going the way of Parehuia Delamere, Kay-Hauata Phillips and Te Araroa Sopoaga.
Samantha Jenkins, a former Nayland College standout, knocked down 5 from 10 three-pointers in her 30-point haul as Dawson College Buccaneers beat Northwest College.
Jenkins (who currently sits 13th on the Division I scoring list for this season with 141 points) followed that with two 14-point outings with one of them as Dawson pipped Williston State 61-56. There was a rather unique triple-double from Keeley Tini in this one – she amassed 16 points to accompany 15 rebounds but unfortunately incurred 11 turnovers in the process. Keeley is leading Williston in points scoring (15.6ppg) and rebounding (10.3rpg).
Also posting a career best was Parehuia Delamere as Western Texas College defeated Trinidad State 78-65. Parehuia scored 17 points, including 3 from 5 from beyond the arc – she also came up with 5 steals and 5 assists. Jordyn Maddix dished 6 dimes to go with 5 points as Western Texas moved to 3-5 on the season.
The Kiwi triumvirate at Cloud County were mighty impressive in an 80-55 win against Northwest Kansas Tech. Kay-Hauata Phillips led the way with a career best 21 points (10/17FG) and 14 rebounds. Te Araroa Sopoaga was two points shy of a career high of her own as she filled all the stats columns with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists 5 steals and a block while Te Oriwa Tuipolotu secured 5 rebounds to accompany 8 points.
The trio weren’t as prolific in an 89-74 loss to top 15 ranked Hutchinson College. Sopoaga totalled 10 points and 5 rebounds with Tuipolotu finishing with 6 points and 2 rebounds – both players fouled out in just over 20 minutes.
Central Maine Mustangs, who have made it a perfect 7-0 start to the season also boast three New Zealand players. Taranaki’s Harata Coleman scored 12 points, Safena Te Nana-Williams netted 14 (3/4 3PG) and Leata Te Nana-Williams had 8 points. Safena came close to a double-double as she dished 9 assists as the Mustangs overwhelmed Paul Smith College 100-48.
Western Nebraska Cougars are the #14 ranked Women’s Junior College team in the States and they reaffirmed that position by beating Colorado Northwestern 107-55 with Rashaan Smith accumulating 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Izzy Cook posted 4 points and 3 rebounds in the win.
24 hours later Western Nebraska were dealt a blow as in a high scoring encounter they went down 95-89 to #19 College of Southern Idaho. For Southern Idaho Kyra Paniora scored 11 points while Ashlee Strawbridge filled the stats line with 5 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists a steal and a block. Smith had 2 points and 3 rebounds in this one.
Dejaan Schuler scored 14 points, making 4 from 6 from downtown, as Casper College traversed past Wyoming All-Stars 77-57.
Ella Bradley scored 10 points and Maclani Michael 9 points as Utah State Eastern Eagles accounted for Central Wyoming 64-47. Bradley, the team’s leading scorer this season, had 9 points and 9 rebounds as the Eagles then flew past Western Wyoming 59-39.
Jenna Rose Mafua chipped in with 8 points and 5 rebounds as Dodge City College Conquistadors tipped over Cowley College 72-59 to improve to 6-1 this season.
Other Women’s Results:
Miles College 55 (Molly Cockburn 5pts, 2rebs, 1 assist) Bismarck State 79
Marshalltown 65 (Waiaaria Rogers 2pts, 4rebs, 1 assist) Central 56
McCook College 61 (Yzabelle Tevao 3pts, 3rebs) New Mexico 80
In Men’s action former Mt Albert Grammar and Auckland Huskies jumping jack Nate Wilson climbed for 13 rebounds – 6 at the offensive end – and scored 6 points as South Georgia Tech swamped Action Sports Academy 123-41.
Nico Hill came up with 13 points and 5 rebounds as Missouri State West-Plains dominated Link Year Prep to win 83-67.
Midland College played three games in as many days winning two and losing one with Ollie Haywardaccumulating 13 rebounds and 7 points.
Ezrah Vaigafa dished 5 assists and grabbed 5 boards in addition to 3 points as Neosho County trumped Graceland 92-71.
Sam Mennenga scored a game high and season best 17 points on 7 from 10 shooting as Davidson College Wildcats beat Penn 72-60 at the Myrtle Beach Invitational on Saturday (NZT). The former Westlake and Harbour forward also tallied 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 28 minutes of action. Mennenga is averaging 11.8ppg for the 2-2 Wildcats.
Flynn Cameron totaled 18 points (plus 8 rebounds) and Callum McRae closed in on 500 career points as UC Riverside dominated Bethedsa 95-57. McRae also pulled down 8 rebounds with his 7 points taking him to 496 career points in 69 games for UCR.
Cantabrian forward Mason Whittaker scored his first collegiate points knocking down a three with his only shot of the game but American International were thumped 82-42 by Longwood.
In Women’s Div I games Emme Shearer put together a nice stats line as Portland picked up a 91-77 win in Hawaii against the Rainbow Warriors. The 2020 Harbour Breeze guard made 11 points (5/7FG) in addition to accumulating 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Tegan Graham produced 10 points including 2 from 3 from beyond the arc, and dished 3 assists as BYU dominated Boise State 84-40. Arielle Williams-Mackey also chipped in with a couple of points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists in the win.
Other Results:
Georgia Southern 57 (Tsubasa Nisbett 2pts, 5rebs) San Diego State 65
Tera Reed moved to second on the New Zealand Women’s All-time NCAA Division I scoring list on Friday (NZT) when University of California Trojans overcame Western Michigan 80-50.
Plagued by early foul trouble (three in the opening period) the Trojans starter played just 17 minutes but still finished with 8 points, making 3 from 4 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers in her third game of the season.
That tally took the Tall Ferns and former Harbour Breeze wing to 1,498 Division 1 career points, a single point more than one of New Zealand’s all-time greats Megan Compain scored for the St Joseph’s University Hawks (1993-97).
Compain reached that mark in 113 appearances with Reed reaching the figure playing one game more.
Reed is in her Graduate Year at USC having previously played at Virginia Commonwealth University where, as a 4-year starter, she scored 1,466 points.
Only another former Tall Fern Erin Rooney remains ahead of Reed on the all-time scoring list. Cantabrian Rooney, a bronze medal winner at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, scored 1,648 points during her 131 game collegiate career – two years at Monmouth University Hawks and a further two years at Fordham University concluding in 2014.
If Reed stays healthy Rooney’s record tally is well within her reach with a 30+ game season ahead over the next four months.
Callum McRae scored 15 points and Flynn Cameron 7 points as UC Riverside (2-2) came off second best at San Diego losing 74-62 today.
McRae added 5 rebounds and 4 assists while Cameron came up with 6 boards. Angus McWilliam remains sidelined recovering from injury.
Abilene Christian won 80-71 in overtime against UT Arlington Flynn’s older brother Tobias Cameron posting 5 points and a trio of steals and rebounds.
Dan Fotu and St Mary’s Gaels made it three wins from three outings with a comfortable 70-51 win against Sothern Utah. The Tall Black forward finished with 12 points (6/10FG) and 6 rebounds.
Fotu became the first Gael to pass 50 points on the season when he scored 8 points in a St Mary’s 73-64 win against Bellarmine today – the Gaels 4-0 this term.
It’s not every week you get to play the defending Women’s Division I National Champions but that opportunity came the way of Emme Shearer and the Portland Pilots when they visited Stanford University.
As expected the result went the way of Stanford (77-55) but the Pilots will take heart from a good second half after trailing 43-24 at half-time. Shearer finished with 5 points, 4 rebounds and her customary pair of steals.
Porirua’s Grace Hunter (11 points) scored in double figures for the first time in NCAA Division I basketball as Florida International University beat Kennesaw State 67-57.
In her first year at FIU (2-2), after playing two years Junior College for South Plains, Hunter followed that with 13 points in an 81-74 loss to Georgia Southern University (3-0). Tsubasa Nisbett scored 3 points for GSU.
Kaitlin Burgess, another who played two years at Junior College, also scored 11 points (4/7FG) as Boise State downed Oregon Tech 83-48.
Helen Matthews contributed 6 points and 3 rebounds on her birthday but a 61-47 defeat against Florida was not the present she and the Wofford Terriers were hoping for.
Also with 6 points was Tara Manumaleuga as Texas Christian went to double overtime against Tulane before falling 88-78.
Lauryn Mapusua scored 9 points as Houston Baptist. The former NZ U17 international also grabbed a pair of steals.
In other results:
BYU 55 (Tegan Graham 3p, 2a, 1reb, 1block, Arielle Mackey-Williams 2pts, Kaylee Smiler 2rebs, 1a) Arizona State 44
Fresno State 88 (Amiee Book 5pts, 1reb, 1a) Stanislaus State 71
Ella Bradley (No 10 in pic above) scored 22 points (8/11FG, 6/6FT) and Maclani Michael (No 11) 12 points as Utah State Eastern dominated Phoenix College to win 104-38. Both players flirted with triple-doubles – Bradley pulled down 8 rebounds to compliment a career high 10 assists while Michael added 6 assists to 9 rebounds.
Bradley has now had three 20 points outings on the bounce.
Cantabrian Brooklyn Pouwhare (No 25) is the third Kiwi in the Eastern squad and she made her debut earlier this month for the Eagles.
Also racking up the points is Keeley Tini. Williston State beat United Tribes 89-62 with the power forward scoring a season high 25 points to go with 7 rebounds and 4 steals.
Izzy Cook led Western Nebraska with a symmetrical double-double off 11 points and 11 rebounds in the 95-56 win against Central Wyoming. Teammate Rashaan Smith scored 8 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.
Another double-double performance came from Waiaaria Rogers but it didn’t prevent Marshalltown falling 79-63 to Western Illinois. The ex Rangitoto College guard finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Jordyn Maddix and Parehuia Delamere have experienced the highs and lows of overtime basketball in the past week.
Western Texas grabbed their first win of the season defeating Ranger College 71-66 after the extra five minutes with Jordynwas one of two Western Texas players in double figures scoring 11 points while Parehuiahad 9 points, 4 rebounds and a brace of steals.
The pair were also prominent in an agonising 68-65 additional time loss to Blinn College – Jordyn scoring 9 points and Parehuia a team high 16 points.
Samantha Jenkins had a busy 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals but couldn’t prevent Dawson College (3-2) falling agonisingly short against Dakota losing 67-65.
Kay-Hauata Phillips, Te Araroa Sopoaga and Te Oriwa Tuipolotu all enjoyed productive outings as Cloud County blew Bethany College away 105-54.
Sopoaga tallied 13 points and 4 rebounds, Tuipolotu 13 points and 4 rebounds while Phillips was close to a double-double racking up 8 rebounds to accompany 9 points, 4 steals and 3 blocks.
Dejaan Schuler knocked down a career best 15 points as Casper College brushed past Northeastern 66-48. The former Te Aroha College standout also pinched 3 steals.
Number 15 ranked Southern Idaho Golden Eagles (3-1) fell to their first defeat of the season having their wings clipped 72-62 by Central Arizona. Cantabrian Ashlee Strawbridge was good for the Eagles finishing with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Kyra Paniora tallied 6 points, all scored from the free-throw line.
Yzabelle Tevao enjoyed her best outing of the season as McCook flew past Air Force Prep 67-54. The ex-Waitakere and Massey High forward accumulated 8 points (3/3FG), 5 rebounds and a pair of dimes.
Dodge City College (4-1) starter Jenna Rose Mafua scored 9 points in the 51-47 road win against Ranger College.
Men
Nico Hill tallied 10 points and 5 rebounds but Missouri State-West Plains fell 75-70 to Indian Hills.
Ollie Hayward scored 6 points to accompany 4 rebounds but Midland CC slipped to their first loss in 5 games going down 71-59 to Ranger CC.
Louisiana State Eunice went down 80-74 to Southwest Mississippi. 2021 Auckland Huskies forward Kiani Saxon scored his first collegiate points for Eunice scoring 4 points.
Nate Wilson came up with 3 points and 3 rebounds in South Georgia Tech’s narrow 85-81 win against Shelton State.
Matariki Kapea was a starter as Bakersfield beat West Hills Lemore 91-83 in their home court opener. He finished with 5 points , 2 rebounds and a pair of assists.
Leo Wenman scored his first points in collegiate basketball as Northeast CC got the better of Southeast (99-61). 2 points for Leo in this one.
Former Junior Tall Ferns teammates McKenna Dale and Tera Reed went head to head as Virginia Cavaliers entertained University of Southern California (USC). It was Reed who left the happier as USC posted a 65-48 win.
She tallied 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists in 35 minutes while Dale had 2 points and an assist.
Olivia Williams continued her good start to her collegiate career scoring 10 points but unable prevent UC Irvine going down 68-60 to San Diego State. The Freshman guard has enjoyed three consecutive starts, totalled 31 points and shot the 3-ball at 55% (6/11).
Cantabrian guard Helen Matthews scored 3 points to go along with 2 assists and 2 steals but Wofford College slipped to 0-3 after being beaten 64-48 by Towson.
In Canada Sofia Kennedy helped Windsor University Lancers to a 71-59 win against Waterloo. The Cantabrian point guard added 3 steals and 4 assists to 13 points (4/7FG) with the Lancers now 1-3 this season.
Back to Division I in the States where Flynn Cameron and Callum McRae continued their good early season form as UC Riverside proved far too good for Cal State winning 72-54.
Cameron scored 11 points while McRae dominated the glass to finish with 12 rebounds, 4 of those at the offensive end and also had a pair of blocks and 5 points. That’s 26 rebounds in the first three games of the season for the former Junior Tall Black centre.
Kruz Perrott-Hunt was one of two Coyotes in double figures as South Dakota were thumped by highly regarded Drake 99-50. The Tall Blacks guard scored 10 points on 4 from 8 from the field – the Coyotes 1-1 for the season.
James Moors scored 6 points as Colorado State made it 3 wins from 3 outings with an 86-62 success against Peru State. In those three victories the former Westlake and Harbour forward has made 9 from 10 from the field – not surprisingly he leads the Rams field goal percentage statistics category.
What a performance from Kendell Heremaia as Fordham University defeated Seton Hall 82-63. The former Waikato and St Peter’s Cambridge standout amassed 29 points making 8 from 11 threes!
In addition she tallied 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals on a record breaking day.
Heremaia’s 8 from 11 from beyond the arc was the second most made threes in Fordham Women’s basketball history. She also passed 1,000 career points joining former Ram Erin Rooney as the second Kiwi amongst 22 players that have reached the landmark for Fordham.
Kendell is also just the 13th Kiwi woman to score 1,000 NCAA Division I points joining the likes of Megan Compain, Chev Paalvast, Stella Beck, Micaela Cocks, Tessa Boagni, current USC player Tera Reed as well as the afore mentioned Rooney.
Emme Shearer top scored for Portland as they convincingly beat Weber State 67-46. Shearer scored 16 points (5/8FG, 5/6FT), moving past 200 career points. She also added 5 steals, 3 assists and a pair of boards.
The 16 points and 5 steals both equalled career high’s in those two categories for Shearer.
There were four Kiwis involved in the BYU clash with Fresno State with Aimee Book wearing Fresno colours while Tegan Graham, Arielle Mackey-Williams and Kaylee Smiler suited for Brigham Young University.
Book was one of three Fresno players in double figures making 13 points (3/7 3PG) but it was the trio of Cougars that were the grinners after an 80-64 win with Graham posting an influential 6 points (2/3 3PG), 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals.
Smiler also scored 6 points as BYU won a second consecutive game to open the season.
Kaitlin Burgess scored her first Division I career points but Long Beach State defeated Boise State University 61-38.
The former Rangitoto College guard has joined Boise State after playing two years at Junior College for Southern – she finished with 3 points, I rebound and an assist.
Other Kiwi Women in action:
UC Irvine 50 St Mary’s 52 (Amy West 4pts, 2rebs, 1 steal, Jade Kirisome 4pts, 1reb, I assist, Tayla Dalton 2pts, 4rebs)
Georgia Southern 99 (Tsubasa Nisbet 7pts, 4rebs, 1 steal) Fort Valley State 71
LACEY LOWDOWN 