LACEY LOWDOWN

20^th ranked BYU had little trouble with Pepperdine putting up a ton to win 104-53. Tegan Graham eased to 18 points on 4 from 6 from deep, Arielle Mackey-Williams scored 8 points with Kaylee Smiler dishing 3 assists as BYU stayed top of the West Coast Conference (WCC) standings

There were also three Kiwis on show in the WCC matchup between Saint Mary’s Gaels and Portland Pilots. Portland prevailed 73-63 with Emme Shearer tallying 3 steals, 2 blocks and 3 points after missing the previous two games. For St Mary’s Tayla Dalton scored 10 points, dished 4 assists and made a couple of blocks. Jade Kirisone had 2 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal for the Gaels.

Grace Hunter made it eight straight games in double figures, scoring 10 points (3/6FG), as Florida International squeezed past Marshall 70-66. The Panthers now 4-7 in Conference USA.

Houston Baptist 52 (Lauryn Mapusua 2 points) Northwestern State 42

Kruz Perrott-Hunt was in double figures by half-time, the Tall Blacks guard finishing with 17 points as South Dakota moved to 7-6 in the Summit League with a comfortable 91-69 win against Omaha. Perrott-Hunt also dished 3 assists and grabbed 4 boards.

Callum McRae compiled 10 points (5/11FG) and 8 rebounds in UC Riverside’s 66-56 loss to UC Irvine. Flynn Cameron had 5 points, 4 rebounds and a pair of assists in the defeat. 

New Mexico State 77 (Yuat Alok 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block) Dixie State 69

#22 St Mary’s 86 (Dan Fotu 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) San Diego 56

Next up for St Mary’s is #2 Gonzaga!

Kruz Perrott-Hunt scored in double figures for the 15^th time in 18 games for South Dakota as they squeezed past Western Illinois 75-72 for a fifth straight win. The former Rosmini college guard finished with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. South Dakota are up to third on the Summit League standings with a 5-3 record.

Perrott-Hunt now has 490 career points edging past Tall Blacks great Stan Hill into 17^th spot on the all-time list of New Zealand scorers in NCAA Division I men’s basketball. Hill scored 489 points at San Jose State University in two seasons between 1976 and 1978.

James Moors scored 8 points (3/3FG, 2/4FT) as Colorado State beat Nevada 77-66 to improve to 6-1 in the Mountain West Conference. The former Westlake forward added 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a block.

Up to #16 on the national rankings, the highest mark in programme history, BYU cruised past San Diego 70-48. Tegan Graham headed the assists column with 5 dimes to accompany 4 points, 3 steals and 3 rebounds while Kaylee Smilerhad 2 assists, 3 points and a rebound. BYU top the West Coast Conference standings with a 5-0 record.

Graham moved past Josie Stockill’s (Colgate University Raiders, 2012-16) 1,081 career points and is now just 8 points shy of Tessa Boagni’s (California State University, Northridge Matadors 2014-18) 1,089 career total. Graham is currently 12^thon the all-time list of New Zealand scorers in NCAA Division I women’s basketball

Amiee Book equaled her season best of 18 points (7/12FG, 4/6 3PG) but it was enough to prevent Fresno State falling Colorado State 78-67. The Nelsonian also came up with a pair of blocks and 3 rebounds.

Other Results:

Saint Peters’ New Jersey 56 (Victoria Ikenasio 3 points, 3 rebounds) Manhattan 66

TCU 54 (Tara Manumaleuga 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal) West Virginia 66

Taine Murray almost stole the show as his 14 points (11 in the second half) nearly claimed a comeback victory for Virginia. However, the Cavaliers came up just short against Iowa losing 75-74, the young Tall Black making 5 from 7 from the field including 4 from 6 three-pointers.

Dan Fotu exploded for 14 second half points to lead Saint Mary’s Gaels to a 67-50 victory over UC Riverside. Named West Coast Conference Player of the Week after averaging 16.3 points per game at the Maui Invitational last week Fotu was all business in the second frame making 6 from 9 from the field whilst also picking up 4 rebounds.

Flynn Cameron (11 points) was one of two Riverside players in double figures while Callum McRae posted a steady 6 points and 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 32 minutes.

Brother Tobias Cameron scored 12 points on 5 from 7 from the field as all 13 Abilene players made points in their 88-47 demolition of Schreiner.

Kruz Perrott-Hunt scored in double figures for the fourth consecutive game in South Dakota’s 61-52 loss at San Jose State. KP-H scored 14 points and in the process slid past the 100-points mark for the season at 15.0ppg.

Other Men’s Result:

Davidson 75 (Sam Mennenga 2pts, 2rebs, 4a, 1 steal) Charlotte 58

Southern Idaho College Golden Eagles have soared to #10 on the Women’s Junior College rankings after recording two wins over Thanksgiving weekend – with Ashlee Strawbridge in the thick of the action.

Strawbridge, who has signed a letter of intent to play NCAA Division I at the University of Missouri-Kansas City next year, grabbed 3 steals, 6 rebounds and 13 points (6/10FG) as Southern Idaho produced all the gems to defeat Treasure Valley 93-57. 

BYU Women, with Tegan Graham, Kaylee Smiler and Arielle Mackey-Williams on the roster, have entered the NCAA Division I National rankings at #21 after an unblemished 7-0 start the season.

Virginia’s McKenna Dale had her most productive outing of the season despite the Cavs going down 74-65 to Richmond. The former Junior Tall Fern finished with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals.

Helen Matthews had season highs in points (11) and assists (5) as Wofford Terriers ran around High Point to win 74-52.

Other Women’s Results:

Saint Mary’s Gaels 79 (Jade Kirisome 7pts, 2rebs, 1a/ Tayla Dalton 4pts/Amy West 3rebs,1a) San Jose State 71

Georgia Southern 89 (Tsubasa Nisbett 3pts, 4 rebs) Charleston 65

Chattanooga 61 (Pareunora Pene 3pts, 1a) Vanderbilt 91

Florida International 33 (Grace Hunter 2pts, 3rebs, 2a) Jacksonville 35

Saint Peter’s New Jersey 62 (Victoria Ikenasio 6pts, 3rebs) Morgan State 66

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 12^th Kiwi to score 600 career points in Men’s NCAA Division I basketball – Callum McRae was the 11^th 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 11^th 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.  

Other Men’s results:

Miami University 86 (Sam Waardenburg 3pts, 8rebs, 4a, 1 block) Florida A&M 59

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