Category Archives: Tall Ferns

Jan 10 2018
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College Hoops, Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns

Boagni and Blair headline this week’s review of college hoops

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In the latest news from college hoops the performance of the week belongs to Cantabrian Tessa Boagni and the stat of the week to Brooke Blair.

Boagni posted a career high 36 points as California State Northridge Matadors edged Cal State Fullerton 70-68 in their Big West Conference opener. She completed her ninth career double-double with 10 rebounds in a performance labeled by Matadors head coach Jason Flowers as “Big time – the numbers speak for themselves.”

Those numbers included 11 from 21 shooting from the field and 14 made free throws from 16 attempts.

Blair had back-to-back 14 points outings for Idaho State Bengals. The Bengals are 2-1 in Big Sky Conference play after a 76-70 defeat at the hands of Southern Utah and a bounce back 75-55 win at Northern Arizona.

Blair’s 5 from 9 shooting from beyond the arc across the two games has propelled her to the top of the NCAA Division 1 three-point shooting percentage chart.

This season the former Rangitoto College guard has made 34 from 67 attempts (50.7%).

Put into context, with 349 Women’s NCAA Division 1 basketball programmes, Blair is ahead of over 3,500 players on the shooting chart she heads. Blair has connected with at least one triple in every game and is leading the Bengals scoring in this campaign averaging 14 points per outing.

Stella Beck was also in good form scoring a season high 24 points as St Mary’s Gaels beat San Diego 75-53 to improve to 3-1 in West Coast Conference play. The former Hutt Valley guard had a shooting night to remember missing just once from 11 attempts.

Penina Davidson made 7 points and garnered 9 rebounds as Cal Berkeley Golden Bears improved to 2-2 in the highly competitive Pac 12 Conference – the Bears won at Arizona but only just (53-51).

Zara Jillings has enjoyed plenty of court time for Fordham University recently as the Rams have begun Atlantic 10 Conference play with three wins on the bounce, the latest victory a narrow 66-63 win against St Louis. Jillings has started all three conference games averaging 32 minutes, 7.7 points, 4 rebounds and three assists. Her shooting has also been impressive in the three game swing connecting with 10 of 16 shots at 63%.

Also in the Atlantic 10 Virginia Commonwealth Rams slipped to 0-3 after going down to Duquesne 70-51. On a positive note Tera Reed was the only Rams player in double figures scoring 13 points to add to 4 rebounds.

It was almost all the five’s for Krystal Leger-Walker as Northern Colorado Bears clawed Montana 68-50 for a fourth straight Big Sky Conference victory. Leger-Walker had four assists and a quintet of points, rebounds and steals.

14,400 spectators were on hand to see Jack Salt and University of Virginia Cavaliers take down the defending NCAA champions, North Carolina 61-49. Salt (4pts/3rebs/1block) was at the heart of the Cavs defensive effort described by NCU head coach Roy Williams as, “About as good a defensive game as we’ve had anybody play against us.”

Jan 10 2018
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns

Bad week in Europe for Kiwis

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It was a bad weekend for our four Kiwi national representatives playing in major leagues in Europe – all four suffered defeats.

In Germany Tai Webster and Frankfurt Skyliners suffered a home loss to Telekom Bonn beaten 81-76 to slip to 10-7 for the season. Webster enjoyed a good personal showing with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.

Ratiopharm Ulm are a win behind Frankfurt after a narrow 80-77 loss at Brose. Isaac Fotu, with 14 points (5/7FG), was one of four Ulm players in double figures.

In Israel Corey Webster scored 8 points and dished 5 assists but Ironi Nahariya were defeated 98-90 at Hapoel Holon. Nahariya slip to a 5-6 record sitting seventh on the Israeli League ladder.

Napoli went down 76-70 at home to Ragusa in the Italian League falling to sixth on the ladder with a 7-6 record. Jillian Harmon scored a fair chunk of the Napoli points – 28 to be exact, two shy of her season best. Harmon leads the Italian League scoring averaging 19.1 points per game and is fourth on the rebounding list with 9.4 boards per outing illustrating the outstanding season the Tall Ferns forward is having.

Jan 09 2018
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College Hoops, Tall Ferns

Brooke Blair leading NCAA Division 1 three-point shooting percentage chart

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In probably a first for New Zealand basketball, Idaho State Bengals guard Brooke Blair currently tops the NCAA Division 1 three-point shooting percentage chart.

Put into context, with 349 Women’s NCAA Division 1 basketball programmes, Blair is ahead of over 3,500 players on the shooting chart she heads.

Blair has connected with at least one triple in every game this season for the Bengals who are 2-1 in the Big Sky Conference and 9-5 overall.

This season the former Rangitoto College guard has made 34 from 67 attempts (50.7%) with six makes from nine attempts, against Washington back in November, her most productive outing.

The 2016 Tall Fern is leading the Bengals scoring in this campaign averaging 14 points per game.

Interestingly, next Saturday Idaho State take on Northern Colorado Bears. The Bears are unbeaten in Big Sky action and have a couple of players familiar to Blair – fellow Kiwis Krystal Leger-Walker and Tiarna Clarke. Leger-Walker and Clarke could be charged with keeping Blair quiet, the outcome will be interesting

Women’s NCAA Division 1 Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage

1 Brooke Blair, Idaho St. (Big Sky) 50.7
2 Kia Nurse, UConn (AAC) 50.0
– Sophie Cunningham, Missouri (SEC) 50.0
4 Honoka Ikematsu, Robert Morris (NEC) 49.2
5 Pika Rodriguez, Pittsburgh (ACC) 48.0

Jan 08 2018
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Ferns

Mate v Mate, Tall Fern v Tall Fern

 

Micaela cocks

Micaela Cocks and Kalani Purcell have stood side by side in New Zealand colours on the international stage on many occasions. However next weekend they will be on opposite sides of the court competing for the biggest prize in Australasian basketball.

Cocks plays for Townsville Fire and Purcell for Melbourne Boomers – the two teams will go head to head in the Australian Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) Grand Final Series beginning next Saturday.

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Jan 06 2018
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Ferns, WNBL

Purcell into Australian WNBL Grand Final

 

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Kiwi Kalani Purcell, in her first season as a professional player, has helped guide Melbourne Boomers to the Australian Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) Grand Final.

The Boomers finished fourth in the regular season but beat regular season champions Perth Lynx in the best of three semi-final series 2-0.

Purcell scored 8 points in the 92-76 home victory on Wednesday but it was in the second victory (78-69) in Perth on Friday night that she showed her true worth filling the stats line with four points, a game high six assists, six rebounds, two steals and a pair of blocks.

Purcell displayed the type of form that she demonstrated in a standout college career at Brigham Young University Cougars (BYU) where in her senior season she averaged 12.9 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.3 steals per game and holds the all-time record for the most rebounds in a season (416 in 2015-16).

Tall Ferns assistant Guy Molloy coaches the Boomers. A third member from the 2017 Tall Ferns campaign, Rebecca Ott, also features for the Boomers who will meet the winner of the Townsville Fire versus Sydney University Flames match up in the final. Townsville, with Micaela Cocks in their lineup lead that three game series 1-0 with game two to be played today (Saturday) and game three if required on Monday.

The loss by Perth brought to a close another Kiwi’s hopes of a first WNBL title. Toni Farnworth (nee Edmondson) has played ten seasons in the WNBL, the last six in Perth, but her wait for a championship will continue for at least another 12 months.

Jan 01 2018
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Ferns

Australian WNBL semi-finals will feature four Tall Ferns

Micaela cockzs_n

There were some surprise results in the final round of the Australia WNBL regular season. Although the top four play-off positions have been decided there was still plenty to play for in the Townsville Fire against Sydney University Flames match up on Friday night.

It turned out the Fire were engulfed by the Flames suffering their biggest loss of the season (107-81) and worse still gave up home court advantage for their best-of-three semi-final series against the same opponents next week should a third game be required.

The two teams were one win apiece in the head to head match up entering the contest. Micaela Cocks had a team high 4 assists to go with 4 points but it was a night to forget for the 2016 champions.

Perth Lynx are assured of the WNBL minor premiership but having won 14 straight games it was a major surprise that they lost their final two regular season games albeit both were on the road. On Friday they went down 74-69 at Canberra Capitals and on New Years Eve Townsville provided the fireworks as they protected home court with an 83-51 romp.

It was a good finish to the season for Canberra’s Kiwi guard Chevannah Paalvast who not only notched three rebounds and two points in the victory but also enjoyed the satisfaction of being named the Capitals Defensive Player of the Year before the game. It was the last game of the season for Canberra who, after a tough season, won five of their last six games to finish with a 7-14 record.

For Perth Toni Farnworth had a shooting night to forget going zero from six against Canberra but she bounced back strongly against Townsville finishing second in scoring (8 points) and rebounding (6 boards).

Micaela Cocks (10 points) was one of three Townsville players in double figures and she also secured 5 rebounds.

In a game of little consequence Melbourne Boomers thumped Dandenong Rangers 80-45 on Saturday night. Kalani Purcell underlined her value to the Boomers heading into the play-offs – only 5 points for the Tall Ferns forward but a game high equaling 10 rebounds plus 4 steals and 3 assists. Fellow Tall Fern Rebecca Ott chipped in with 2 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

Amazingly Dandenong were held scoreless – yes zero points – in the final quarter won 21-0 by Melbourne!

The semi-final games begin next Wednesday with Perth (featuring Toni Farnworth) taking on Melbourne (Purcell and Ott) and Sydney matching up against Townsville (Cocks). Both are best-of-three series with Perth and Sydney hosting the third and deciding game if required.

Over in Europe Jillian Harmon had the satisfaction of leading Napoli to a convincing 69-47 road win against her former club Le Murra Lucca. Harmon won an Italian League championship with Lucca last season but turned on a 16 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists, 2 steals master-class against her former teammates to help Napoli to end the year on a high note – they are now fifth on the ten team Italian League table but significantly only one win behind second placed Venezia.

Dec 24 2017
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns

Kiwis shine in Australian WNBL plus news on Fotu and Webster in Germany

Micaela cockzs_n

Micaela Cocks a perfect six from six shooting

 

In Germany Tai Webster and Isaac Fotu wrapped up their pre-Xmas programmes in differing fashions while in Australia the WNBL is already approaching the business end of the season and Tall Ferns Micaela Cocks, Toni Farnworth, Rebecca Ott and Kalani Purcell are all heavily involved.

Webster had an eye catching 13 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists for Frankfurt Skyliners but they were humbled 83-59 at Giessen 46ers.

In contrast Ratiopharm Ulm beat Oettinger Rockets 78-62 with Fotu claiming 11 points. Both Ulm and Frankfurt have identical 9-5 records and sit comfortably inside the Bundesliga top 8 bracket.

In the Australia WNBL the top four play-off positions have been decided with a round to spare with four of five Kiwis playing in the league to feature in post-season play.

Perth Lynx (14-4) have extended their winning sequence to an incredible 15 games after beating Melbourne Boomers 84-66. Toni Farnworth made a useful contribution of 5 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals as Perth sealed top spot and home advantage during the play-offs.

For Melbourne Rebecca Ott scored 8 points and Kalani Purcell garnered a game high 13 rebounds.

The fourth Kiwi lined up to play in the semi-finals is Micaela Cocks who on Thursday had a perfect shooting night as Townsville Fire dealt to Canberra Capitals winning 99-66.

The Tall Ferns guard was, excuse the pun, on Fire as she didn’t miss a shot in her 18 points outing – 6 from 6 from the field, knocking down all five shots from beyond the arc, and also adding a free-throw.

Cocks followed that with 10 points on Saturday as Townsville demolished Bendigo Spirit 120-62.

As a result The Fire will take on defending champions Sydney University Flames in one semi-final with Perth to meet Melbourne in the other match-up.

These games will take place in early January.

Dec 21 2017
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College Hoops, Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns

Pre-Xmas wrap on Tall Ferns and Tall Blacks in Div 1 colleges

Jack Salt

As we near Xmas the American College basketball season is still in full swing and a number of Kiwi internationals have produced impressive numbers of late.

Virginia Cavaliers are ranked a lofty 13th in the nation after a conclusive 78-47 win against Savannah State. Jack Salt was perfect from the field converting all four scoring attempts and added two from four from the charity stripe – eventually finishing with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks as Virginia now boast a 10-1 record.

Sam Timmins, but for missing 6 of 9 free throws, would have had a double-double in Washington Huskies narrow 80-70 win at Loyola Marymount. The Tall Blacks centre came up with 9 points and 11 rebounds. This was followed a couple of days later by a 106-55 frying of Bethune-Cookman with Timmins registering game high blocks (3) and rebounds (7) in the rout.

Matt Freeman and the Oklahoma Sooners are 9-1 for the season after defeating Northwestern State 105-68. Freeman had 6 points (2/3 3PG), 3 rebounds and 2 blocks in a game in which the Sooners outstanding Freshman guard Trae Young dished a record 22 assists.

It’s rather unusual to find a point guard leading the rebounding count but that’s what Izayah Le’afa accomplished as Sacramento State Hornets beat CSUN 66-61. Le’afa finished just shy of a double-double registering 9 boards and 10 points as the Hornets registered their fourth win of the year.

It’s been a tough schedule recently for Isaac Letoa and his Dartmouth teammates. Playing their fifth consecutive game on the road the Big Green were defeated 97-87 at Notre Dame – Letoa played 8 minutes dishing a brace of assists and grabbing a rebound.

And the Tall Ferns …………..

Stella Beck scored 16 points as St Mary’s Gaels beat Eastern Washington. The former Hutt Valley guard also snared 6 rebounds as the Gaels improve their record this season to 7-3.

Jacinta Beckley came up with a game high 4 steals in addition to 9 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists but Seattle Redhawks slipped up against Pacific going down 85-73.

Brooke Blair scored 7 points and snared a couple of steals as Idaho State Bengals beat Utah Valley 70-58 on the road for their seventh win of the season.

The Bengals have a ten day break before they open Big Sky Conference play on December 28th and Blair will take the opportunity to return to Auckland for a few days ahead of an intense second half of the season.

Tessa Boagni accumulated a game high 21 points even though, due to foul trouble, she only played 19 minutes as California State Northridge Matadors defeated Northern Arizona. The Matadors centre was a perfect 3 from 3 from beyond the arc.

Penina Davidson had 9 points and 8 rebounds as Cal Berkeley Golden Bears defeated BYU 70-45 on Saturday.

For BYU 2016 NZ Select representative Shalae Salmon scored 8 points (4/5FG) and captured 6 rebounds.

Krystal Leger-Walker dished 8 assists and chipped in with 5 points as Northern Colorado Bears bit Missouri-Kansas 88-73.

Dec 19 2017
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns

Tai Webster, Fotu, Harmon and Farnworth all in double figures

Tai

Once again the NZ based players in Europe were in fine form at the weekend.

Tai Webster was outstanding for Frankfurt Skyliners scoring 29 points, two shy of his season best, in the 90-84 win against Alba Berlin. Webster’s shooting numbers were impressive connecting with 9 from 12 from the field and an identical 9 from 12 freebies – he also contributed 5 assists

Also in good form was Isaac Fotu as Ratiopharm Ulm beat Wuerzburg 72-69. Fotu scored 16 points on 6 from 9 shooting. After a poor start to the season Ulm have found good form of late, this their sixth straight win.

In Italy Napoli (6-5) slipped back to fifth on the Serie A ladder after going down 76-60 to second placed Venezia. Jillian Harmon played all 40 minutes for Napoli and registered her fourth double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds – also adding 5 assists and 3 steals.

In Australia WNBL Perth Lynx (14-4) have extended their winning sequence to an amazing 13 games after wins against Adelaide Lightning (99-82) and Melbourne Boomers (92-89) in the latest round of games. Cantabrian Toni Farnworth (nee Edmondson) made her biggest contribution since returning from injury scoring 13 points against Adelaide.

In the battle of first v third against Melbourne Farnworth was less prolific but still managed 8 points. For Melbourne Kalani Purcell had 5 rebounds and 5 assists pus a brace of points and steals.

Townsville Fire (11-6) are second on the table after beating Dandenong 83-71 with Micaela Cocks scoring five points.

Chevannah Paalvast scored three points in both of Canberra Capital’s wins at the weekend – the victories against Bendigo (91-80) and Adelaide (88-87) lifted Canberra above Bendigo at the bottom of the table.

Dec 12 2017
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns

Double figure outings for Harmon, Fotu and the Webster brothers

Tai Webster copy

It was largely a successful weekend for our Tall Ferns and Tall Blacks internationals playing overseas.

The German based pair Tai Webster and Isaac Fotu both contributed strongly as their respective club’s registered wins.

Webster scored a game high 21 points (7/11FG), dished 6 assists and reeled in 5 rebounds as Frankfurt Skyliners beat Bremerhaven 95-69. The Skyliners are fifth on the Bundesliga ladder with an 8-4 record.

One win back are Ratiopharm Ulm after an 84-70 win at Giessen 46ers. Fotu was in good form for Ulm scoring 17 points on 8 from 11 shooting. The power forward added 6 rebounds a steal and a block in just 20 minutes of action.

Corey Webster also scored in double figures in Israel but his 15 points (5/9FG) were not enough to save Ironi Nahariya from going down 72-69 against Ironi Nes-Ziona. The defeat sees Nahariya slip to fourth on the Israeli League ladder with a 5-4 win/loss record.

In Italy Napoli (6-4) are up to fourth on the Serie A ladder after a fourth straight win defeating San Martino 84-70. Jillian Harmon was her usual busy self, accumulating 21 points (8/14FG), 6 rebounds and 2 assists.

Melbourne Boomers (11-6) solidified their spot in second place on the Australian WNBL ladder with a couple of wins including an 86-42 demolition of Bendigo Spirit. Kalani Purcell had 9 points (4/5FG) and 9 rebounds in the massacre.

Perth Lynx have claimed an eleventh consecutive victory defeating Sydney University Flames in New South Wales. Cantabrian Toni Edmondson, working her way back after injury, contributed 3 points and 2 rebounds as the Lynx improve to 12-4 to top the WNBL table.

Townsville Fire (10-6) suffered a shock 79-64 home loss to Adelaide Lightning going down 79-64 but bounced back on Saturday defeating Bendigo 99-62. Micaela Cocks added a trio of rebounds and assists to 7 points as Townsville retains third spot.

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