LACEY LOWDOWN

Kruz Perrott-Hunt ran up 19 points, making 3 from 6 from beyond the arc, as South Dakota earned an 81-60 win against St Thomas. Perrott-Hunt is averaging 17 points a game at home during Summit League play and went two better in this one, moving past 600 career points in the process. South Dakota 9-6 in league play with three regular season games remaining. 

Also in double figures was Callum McRae as UC Riverside beat CSU Bakersfield 79-69. The former Palmerston North Boys High standout finished with an outstanding stat line of 16 points (7/11FG), 7 assists and 7 rebounds.

Sam Waardenburg was the cornerstone of Miami’s defence as the Hurricanes moved to 11-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 70-63 win at Louisville. Waardenburg had team high’s in rebounds (9) and blocks (3) along with 8 points.

Tobias Cameron had a productive 12 points, 7 rebounds and a pair of assists as Abilene Christian lost 75-71 in overtime to Sam Houston. 

St Mary’s 69 (Dan Fotu 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 block) San Francisco 64

Colorado State 83 (James Moors 4 points, 5 rebounds) New Mexico 68

New Mexico State 75 (Yuat Alok 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 block) Dixie State 64

After 14 straight losses Virginia Cavaliers gained their first Atlantic Coast Conference win beating Duke 67-54. McKenna Dale had 5 points, and one each in blocks, steals, rebounds and assists in the win.

BYU 77 (Tegan Graham 5pts, 4rebs, 2a, 1stl, Kaylee Smiler 3a, 2rebs, 1stl, Arielle Mackey-Williams 2pts, 1a, 1stl)Loyola Marymount 54

Florida International 49 (Grace Hunter 5 points, 2 assists) Middle Tennessee 63

Portland 72 (Emme Shearer 7 points, 2 assists) San Francisco 80

Georgia Southern 68 (Tsubasa Nisbett 6 points, 2 rebounds) South Alabama 56

Fresno State 59 (Amiee Book 3 points, 2 steals) Nevada, Las Vegas 69

Kendell Heremaia has produced one of the finest individual scoring performances by a Kiwi in NCAA Division I women’s basketball this season – possibly ever.

The former Waikato and St Peter’s School, Cambridge forward scored 35 points but couldn’t prevent Fordham University going down 60-57 at Massachusetts to slip to 7-4 in the Atlantic-10 Conference. 

Those 35 points included 11 made threes from 19 attempts (58%) – a new programme record for 3-pointers made in a single game in Fordham Rams women’s basketball. The previous record of 9 made threes was set back in 1994.

She finished the contest with 11 rebounds, her third double-double of the season (13^th of her career), and 3 steals, playing 37 minutes.

Heremaia now has 1,224 career points moving ahead of Micaela Cocks (1,195 points for Oregon Ducks, 2006-10) and up to 6^th spot on the all-time list of Kiwi points scorers in NCAA Division I women’s basketball.

She now has impressive career numbers of 766 rebounds, 303 assists and 137 steals in 139 games (with 111 starts) to add to her points haul. 

Just a few games to report from the early part of the week:

Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 20 points as Washington State edged USC 57-54 on Sunday – her 9^th 20-point game of the season. In the process she passed Brooke Blair (837 points for Idaho State University, 2015-18) to move up to 18^th on the NZ all-time list of scorers in women’s NCAA Division I basketball.

Charlisse also tallied 6 rebounds and deuces in assists and steals. Krystal L-W had just a single point but did post a game high 5 assists, 3 rebounds and a steal.

For USC Tera Reed tallied 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

UC Irvine (10-3) moved up to second on the Big West Conference league table after a 67-50 victory against UC San Diego. Freshman guard Olivia Williams finished with 9 points, 6 rebounds and an assist.

Fresno State 68 (Amiee Book 3 points) Nevada 72

Fordham 43 (Kendell Heremaia 5pts, 4rebs, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block) Rhode Island 58

James Moors was a perfect 9 from 9 from the field as Colorado State moved to 10-3 in the Mountain West Conference (MWC) after defeating Fresno State 65-50. Moors finished with 11 points in 18 minutes of action bringing up 100 points for the season in the 65-50 win against Fresno State and 8 points in the 77-74 success against Boise State.

The win against Boise (10-2) was significant as Colorado are only one win behind the second placed team in the MWC.

Sam Mennenga and Davidson College returned to winning ways with a 71-62 victory over Duquesne. The former Westlake Boys big man finished with 7 points, passing 300 career points in the process, 7 rebounds and a brace of assists. Davidson 11-2 in the Atlantic-10 Conference and two games clear at the top of the table.

Zach Riley enjoyed a significant amount of playing time in Fordham’s 66-61 loss to Victoria Commonwealth. The freshman guard who only joined the Rams shortly before Xmas played 20 minutes accumulating 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 points in only his fifth collegiate game.

Oliver Hayward scored a career high 24 points as Midland College went down 82-64 against Odessa – that’s ten straight games in double figures for the consistent Hayward who has accumulated 241 points this season.

Nate Wilson filled the stats line as South Georgia Tech beat Gordon State 85-59. The former MAGS man bagged 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block to go with 8 points.

Also keeping the statisticians busy was Ezrah Vaigafa as Neosho County went down 71-64 to Allen County. The Wellingtonian had 4 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in the loss.

In women’s action Ella Bradley added 6 assists to a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, as Utah State Eastern downed Southern Nevada 75-60. Brooklyn Pouwhare came up with 3 points and 5 rebounds while Maclani Michaelmade 3 points.

Marshalltown suffered consecutive losses this week but Waiaaria Rogers can hold her head high having scored 14 points in the 61-46 defeat at Iowa Central and 13 in the Northeast defeat (64-38).

Jordyn Maddix scored 11 points (3/53PG) but Western Texas were defeated 61-44 by New Mexico. 4 steals in the game from Parehuia Delamere took her tally to 64 for the season and in the top 30 in women’s junior college basketball for that stat.

Also Top-30 in the nation in that statistical category is Te Araroa Sopoaga and she had 3 more, along with 7 rebounds and 8 points, in Cloud County’s 67-57 loss to Dodge City.

Kay-Hauata Phillips scored 6 points in this one and Te Oriwa Tuipolotu 4 points.

Jenna Rose Mafua was outstanding for Dodge City in the win, coming up with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals.

Keeley Tini, with 357 points for Williston State, has the most points by a Kiwi in Junior College basketball this season – she also has the most rebounds (234). Te Araroa Sopoaga is the second best scorer with 324 points, while Sam Jenkins, with 301 points, is the third New Zealander with a triple ton.

Jenkins scored 9 points in her most recent outing when Dawson were sunk by Bismarck 85-71.

Rashaan Smith grabbed 6 rebounds as Western Nebraska accounted for Trinidad Stated 78-64. The former Birkenhead College standout also scored 7 points. Western Nebraska now ranked a heady #4 as they boast a 21-1 record – the highest ranked team with a Kiwi connection.

Next best are #10 College of Southern Idaho with a 25-2 record. Ashlee Strawbridge, Kyra Paniora and their team, clinched the Scenic West Athletic Conference regular season championship with a 92-50 demolition of Colorado Northwestern.

Casper College are ranked #15 – Dejaan Schuler scored 6 points in their recent win against Laramie County (73-59).

Molly Cockburn scored 8 points and Ella Paleaae-Cook 7 as Miles accounted for Lake Region State 62-50.

Briarley Rogers scored 6 points and dished 5 assists as Weatherford defeated Collin 85-77.Central Maine topped the Yankee Conference ahead of the play-offs after defeating Southern Maine 70-61. Harata Coleman scored 3 points while Leata Te Nana-Williams grabbed 7 boards to go with 3 points and 7 assists

Now just 9 points shy of 1,000 career points Krystal Leger-Walker scored a season high 22 points, including the game winning And-1 play with one second left on the clock, to get Washington State home 65-66 in a thriller against UCLA. Krystal also added 5 assists, 5 rebounds and a couple of steals whilst Charlisse L-W, hampered by foul trouble, posted 6 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

In a game involving six Kiwis St Mary’s (6-7) pushed top of the West Coast Conference (WCC) table BYU (11-1) before falling away in the final quarter to lose 84-69.

For St Mary’s Tayla Dalton, playing her 50^th game for the Gaels, scored 13 points, Jade Kirisone scored 6 while Amy West was unavailable due to injury. 

For BYU Tegan Graham was 3 from 6 from deep for 11 points (and 6 assists) while Kaylee Smiler added a bucket – Arielle Mackey-Williams didn’t come off the bench in this one.

Also in the WCC Emme Shearer produced 9 points, 4 rebounds and a couple of steals as Portland suffered a surprise 79-74 loss at Pacific.

Helen Matthews couldn’t replicate her 23 points haul in the previous game in Wofford’s decisive 72-54 defeat of Furman but still came up with a team high 3 steals, 5 rebounds and 6 points. Wofford now 8-1, and second spot, in the Sothern Conference.

Tsubasa Nisbett was amongst three seniors honoured before the game in which Georgia Southern beat Coastal Carolina 90-75. The Cantabrian finished with 4 points and 3 rebounds.

With 5 points in the game Amiee Book passed 900 career points in Fresno State’s 57-66 loss to Wyoming. 

Texas Christian 70 (Tara Manumaleuga 2 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block) Iowa State 93

Southern California 70 (Tera Reed 4 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 steal) Washington 59

UC Irvine 51 (Olivia Williams 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) UC Davis 66

In men’s Division I play Sam Waardenburg scored a dozen points in Miami’s 76-72 triumph over Wake Forrest to remain in the top four of the ACC. Waardenburg becomes the 13^th New Zealander to score 600 career points in NCAA Division I men’s basketball.

With 609 career points he will probably pick off Mike Karena (616 points at Wright State, 2014-16) in his next game.

Kruz Perrott-Hunt scored his season average (15 points) as South Dakota defeated Denver 84-76.

Playing his 50^th collegiate game James Moors was a perfect 5 from 5 from the field as Colorado State moved to 9-3 in the Mountain West Conference after defeating Fresno State 65-50. Moors finished with 11 points in 18 minutes of action bringing up 100 points for the season in the process.

Despite 10 points apiece from Callum McRae and Flynn Cameron UC Riverside suffered an 85-68 Big West Conference loss to UC San Diego.

In his first game of the season, after recovering from injury, Cantabrian Angus McWilliam scored 3 points in 9 minutes of action for Riverside.

Like his brother Flynn, Tobias Cameron finished with 10 points as Abilene Christian defeated Tarleton 77-63 to move to 8-5 in conference play. The elder Cameron now 4 points short of 300 career points at Abilene.

Davidson 65 (Sam Mennenga 3 points, 3 rebounds) Rhode Island 72

Helen Matthews was in great form in Wofford’s 71-49 victory against Western Carolina to move to 7-1 in the Southern Conference. The Kaiapoi local was a terrific 10 from 14 from the field as she amassed a career high 23 points while adding 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a couple of steals for good measure.

St Mary’s registered consecutive away wins with an 88-81 win at Santa Clara. Tayla Dalton passed 200 points for the season with a highly efficient 18 points (6/8FG, 6/6FT) to go with a couple of assists and 4 rebounds. Jade Kirisone had 5 points in the victory.

Grace Hunter scored a season high 15 points as Florida International were downed 73-61 by Old Dominion. The Wellingtonian guard also had a team high 5 assists despite fouling out in 24 minutes.

Tera Reed made a welcome return to the Southern California line-up but it didn’t prevent the Trojans going down 91-69 to Utah. Reed, in her first game for almost three weeks, had 7 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

Washington State suffered a shellacking at the hands of #24 Oregon losing 83-30. Washington made just 11 of 63 shots (18%) from the field. Krystal Leger-Walker managed 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists amongst the carnage with Charlisse L-W scoring 4 points – only the fourth time this season she hasn’t scored in double figures.

McKenna Dale had a double of 6 points and 6 rebounds as Virginia slipped to a 77-70 loss to Syracuse.

Texas Christian 47 (Tara Manumaleuga 6 assists) Oklahoma 76

Sam Waardenburg produced a massive performance for Miami in the 79-70 defeat of Georgia Tech. The former Rangitoto College standout produced 19 points (5/8FG, 3/4 3PG, 6/6FT), 8 rebounds, 5 assists and a block. Miami now 9-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Colorado State improved to 8-3 in the Mountain West Conference with an 82-72 win against Nevada. James Moorsscored 7 points and had quadruples in assists and rebounds. The 4 assists were a season high.

Davidson remain top of the Atlantic-10 Conference after a 73-67 overtime win against Saint Joseph’s. Sam Mennengawas 3 from 3 from the field for 7 points, adding a couple of blocks and assists.

Saint Mary’s 72 (Dan Fotu 2 points) Santa Clara 77

A massive double-double of 10 rebounds and a career best 26 points (10/16FG) from Ella Bradley propelled Utah State Eastern (USE) to a 63-58 win against Southern Idaho and break a 19-game winning streak by SI.

Maclani Michael claimed 6 points and 3 rebounds for USE while for Southern Idaho Ash Strawbridge scored 11 points and Kyra Paniora 7 points.

Ella is in a rich vein of form as she followed the above performance by totalling 26 points and 15 rebounds in a win and a loss in the double-header against Salt Lake.

Molly Cockburn and Ella Paleaae-Cook had big nights as Miles beat United Tribes Tech 71-65. Ella tallied 18 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals while Molly was close behind with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists. 

Parehuia Delamere scored 17 points as Western Texas beat Odessa 79-77 in overtime – the sophomore guard and Jordyn Maddix both making important free-throws in the final 6 seconds of the game to seal the win.

Leata Te Nana-Williams did it all as Central Maine outworked NHTI 97-41. Leata scored 17 points and also amassed 7 steals, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and a block. Harata Coleman chipped in with 2 points and 4 assists.

Samantha Jenkins scored 4 from 9 from beyond the arc as her 16 points and 3 assists eased Dawson across the line against Dakota (75-56).

Cloud County beat Pratt College 82-62 with Kay-Hauata Phillips scoring 14 points (7/10FG). Te Araroa Sopoaga once again displayed her all court game with 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 6 points and a couple of blocks.

Briarley Rogers made 3 from 4 threes in 12 points as Weatherford defeated Cisco 86-67.

Jenna Rose Mafua scored 11 points to go with 3 rebounds in Dodge City’s 69-55 defeat of Butler.

Keeley Tini was once again to the fore as Williston State distanced themselves from Miles to win 76-40. Keeley scored 10 points to accompany 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

Dejaan Schuler had 6 of each – points and rebounds – as Casper College tipped Western Wyoming 64-49.

Izzy Cook scored 7 points (3/3FG)and garnered 3 rebounds as Western Nebraska defeated Laramie County 72-57.

Ollie Hayward scored 14 points as Midland College were defeated 69-58 by New Mexico.

Ezrah Vaigafa scored 10 points as Neosho County beat Hesston 83-68.The former Wellington Saint also dished 5 assists and grabbed 7 rebounds.

Daniel Christensen scored 8 points in Barstow found it hot going at Desert College losing 97-82. 

Kiani Saxon had 4 points and 3 rebounds as Louisiana State Eunice defeated Southern-Shreveport 88-71.

A big performance from Callum McRae carried UC Riverside to a valuable 64-59 win against Hawaii. His 19-point haul was interspersed with 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. Flynn Cameron scored 7 points in the win.

Yuat Alok scored 10 points (5/7FG) in just 11 minutes as New Mexico State defeated California Baptist 68-57.

Dan Fotu, used for just 9 minutes per game by the St Mary’s coaching staff during January, responded to more playing time (16 minutes) with 9 points (4/7FG) and 4 rebounds in the Saint Mary’s Gaels 7554 win against Portland.

Tobias Cameron, playing his 99^th game for Abilene Christian, scored 7 points as the Wildcats gained a 77-73 home win against Chicago State. Cameron also had 5 rebounds and 3 assists with Abilene now 7-5 in the Western Athletic Conference.

Miami 64 (Sam Waardenburg 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks) Notre Dame 68

Tayla Dalton and Jade Kirisome were both in double figures as St Mary’s snapped a four game losing streak with a 78-73 win against Santa Clara. Kirisome made 13 points (3/5 3PG), 4 assists and a couple of rebounds with Dalton making 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

#16 BYU suffered an away defeat at Portland going down 75-64. Tegan Graham scored 12 points (plus 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block) and Kaylee Smiler 2 points as BYU slipped to its first West Coast Conference defeat.

Grace Hunter scored 13 points (5/13FG) and dished a trio of assists as Florida International were pipped on the buzzer (65-64) by Southern Mississippi. That’s five straight double figure scores from the Porirua guard.

Helen Matthews scored 10 points as Wofford beat UNC Greensboro 63-45 for a third straight win and 6-1 record in the Southern Conference. Matthews also snared 8 rebounds and dished 4 assists.

McKenna Dale knocked down 3 from 3 triples for 9 points, to add to 3 rebounds and a steal in Virginia’s 65-57 loss to Boston College.

Other Women’s results:

Texas Christian 62 (Tara Manumaleuga 3 points) West Virginia 70

Fresno State 62 (Amiee Book 3 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal) Boise State 56

St Peter’s 45 (Victoria Ikenasio 2 points, 4 rebounds) Manhattan 65