LACEY LOWDOWN

Kalani Purcell

A bunch of Tall Ferns and Tall Blacks played on New Year’s Eve – see the round up of the action below.

None were more impressive than Kalani Purcell. The Tall Ferns forward threatened triple double territory as she strung together the impressive stats line of 13 points, 6 rebounds, 11 assists and 5 steals as BYU Cougars beat Loyola Marymount 76-59. The win improves BYU to 1-1 in West Coast Conference action.

Also 1-1 in the WCC are St Mary’s Gaels after going down 73-71 at San Diego. Stella Beck followed up her 18 points outing last week with 14 points in this one making 7 of 10 from the field in a game that featured 16 lead changes.

Katelin Noyer was big for Fresno State, her 12 points (6/9FG) key in helping the Bulldogs eke out a 71-70 win at Nevada. Fresno are now 1-1 in Mountain West Conference play.

Krystal Leger-Walker had a relatively quiet night as Northern Colorado Bears improved to 2-0 in Big Sky Conference action. The Waikato guard had just the one basket plus 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals as the Bears mauled Portland State 91-62.

California State Northridge Matadors wrapped up non-conference action with an extremely low scoring encounter against Penn going down 47-36. Tessa Boagni, like her teammates struggled offensively with just 6 points but 2 blocks and 8 rebounds helped the Matadors stay in the contest.

Jack Salt had a team high 7 rebounds for Virginia Cavaliers but they were upset at home by Florida State going down 60-58 – just the second loss in the last 37 Atlantic Coast Conference games for the Cavs!

There was also a close home loss for Izayah Le’Afa as Sacramento State Hornets were beaten 90-82 in overtime by North Dakota. Le’afa had 7 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists as the Hornets slipped to 0-2 in Big Sky Conference play.

In Australia

 There was more New Year cheer across the Tasman. Micaela Cocks scored a season high 17 points (3/6 3PG) as Townsville Fire doused Melbourne Boomers 88-75 to improve to 9-7 after a fourth straight win.

Chevannah Paalvast also scored a couple of points in 13 minutes off the bench for Townsville and Jess Bygate snared three rebounds for Melbourne in the defeat.

Staying in the Sunshine State Reuben Te Rangi and the Brisbane Bullets beat Cairns Taipans 93-76 in the Queensland derby. Te Rangi only scored 6 points (2/2FG) but he put in a sterling shift as he was forced to play substantial minutes in the power forward spot covering for the injured duo of Cameron Bairstow and Anthony Petrie.

Jarrod Kenny was all poise and composure as Perth Wildcats secured a vital away win in Wollongong, beating Illawarra Hawks 95-87. Kenny had 8 points, 2 rebounds and a team high 6 assists for the Wildcats as they upset the in form Hawks.

In Europe

Mike Karena enjoyed an exceptional night amassing 19 points (8/13FG) and 7 rebounds as Sammic ISB edged Alcazar 75-73 in Spanish Liga Endesa Silver action. Sammic are up to third on the ladder with a 10-5 record.

Karena, the Canterbury Rams forward, is enjoying a fine campaign averaging 12 points and 6 rebounds at the halfway mark of his first season in Europe.

Penina Davidson

Xmas may be looming but it has been business as usual for many of the Tall Ferns and Tall Blacks in college and Europe this week.

Penina Davidson has been by far the busiest with the University of California Berkley Golden Bears playing three games in as many days at a tournament in Las Vegas.

No problems with the schedule for the Bears winning three from three to extend their unbeaten run this season to 12 games. Cal recorded victories against Southern Mississippi 71-51, Oklahoma 82-74 and Arkansas State 80-55. Starting forward Davidson averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds across the three games.

Kalani Purcell produced her fourth double double of the season, as BYU was downed 82-70 by No 9 University of Washington on Thursday. The Tall Ferns swingman scored 16 points to go along with 10 rebounds.

New Zealand Select international Shalae Salmon is gathering more court time for BYU in her freshman season. The Wellington forward played 12 minutes in this one collecting 4 points and 2 rebounds.

5 points (2/2FG) and 5 rebounds from Jack Salt helped Virginia Cavaliers hold off the University of California, Berkley 56-52 on Thursday. The Cavs now ranked No 12 open Atlantic Coast Conference play next week at No 10 Louisville.

For the 13^th straight game Tai Webster was in double figures as Nebraska Huskers concluded non-conference action with an 81-76 victory against Southern. The former Westlaker had 10 points, 5 rebounds and a game high 5 assists as Nebraska improved to 7-6 for the season.

Mate v Mate

Cal State Northridge Matadors snapped a 10 game losing streak in the series against St Mary’s Gaels winning 73-61. Tessa Boagni added 7 rebounds and 3 steals to 5 points as the Matadors improved to 6-5 with a hard fought 73-61 win. Stella Beck led the Gaels scoring effort with 15 points and also dished 4 assists in their last non-conference game of the season.

This was a pleasing return for Boagni, the Cantabrian centre having missed a couple of games due to concussion.

In Europe

 Jillian Harmon helped Le Mura Lucca improve to 11-1 at the top of the Italian League. The power forward scored 16 points (8/16FG) and garnered 7 rebounds and 4 steals as Lucca comfortably beat Vigarano 75-52 ahead of a two weeks break over the holiday period.

Mike Karena with 10 points and 6 rebounds helped Sammic ISB climb to third equal spot on the Spanish Liga Endesa Silver Standings with a 75-67 win against Avia. Both teams have a 9-5 record.

Jarrod Kenny

Jarrod Kenny put in a terrific shift for Perth Wildcats but couldn’t prevent the undermanned NBL champions going down 92-86 at Adelaide in overtime. The Tall Blacks point guard scored a season high 15 points, added 5 rebounds and 3 assists in addition to putting in outstanding defensive shift on 36ers star Jerome Randle.

The best double of the week was put together by Kalani Purcell at the Maui Invitational tournament. The air in Hawaii was obviously to her liking as she excelled with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists as BYU Cougars dismissed University of Nevada, Las Vegas 63-54 on Saturday. On Sunday she was equally dominant, even though the Cougars went down 65-56 to Oregon State, scoring 21 points and corralling 10 rebounds.

Tai Webster put another fine double together. He was not quite at his best as Nebraska went down in a tight one 60-58 against Clemson. However the shooting guard was still good enough to register 12 points and 4 rebounds. Webster has double figures in all 8 of Nebraska’s games following 12 points, plus a career high 9 assists, in the 73-61 win against South Dakota.

 Tessa Boagni put on a fine shooting display as Cal State Northridge accounted for Northern Arizona 83-79. The Tall Ferns centre was 7 from 10 from the field including 3 from 5 threes. She also added 7 rebounds and a brace of steals in a commanding performance for the Matadors.

Stella Beck also had a good shooting night as St Mary’s Gaels improved to 3-4 after overcoming Cal Poly 79-71. Beck shot 7 from 10 from the floor for a team high 17 points to go with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal.

The numbers don’t do him justice – Jack Salt played a significant role in helping Virginia come from behind to beat Ohio State 63-61 last Thursday. Salt had just 2 points but was extremely active at the defensive end claiming 6 boards, a block and a steal whilst also affecting the rhythm of Ohio’s offence with his presence in the paint.

Mate v Mate

 There was a double dose of mate v mate in Perth last week.

 On Thursday Jarrod Kenny contributed 9 points and a trio of assists and rebounds as Perth slipped to a third straight loss 90-75, against Reuben Te Rangi’s Brisbane Bullets in the NBL. Te Rangi, playing some solid defence, had 2 points and 2 rebounds in 13 minutes for the top of the table Bullets

 The following day Perth Lynx got the better of Townsville Fire for the second time in seven days to clinch the head to head 2-1 after winning 80-73.

The match pitched Tall Fern v Tall Ferns as Toni Edmondson gained bragging rights over Micaela Cocks and Chevannah Paalvast. Paalvast, playing significant minutes for the first game in a while, and Cocks both posted 9 points for the Fire whilst Edmondson went 6p/1r/4a/2st/1b for the Lynx

In Europe

 Jillian Harmon collected 5 rebounds and a steal to compliment 12 points as Le Murra Lucca moved to the top of the Italian League. Lucca defeated the previously unbeaten Familia Schio 61-53

Zaragoza got an unexpected win defeating second on the table Valladolid 71-59 in Spanish League action. Isaac Fotu came off the bench to register 5 points, 8 rebounds and a block as Zaragoza improve to 4-6.

Mike Karena led Sammic ISB in points (17) and rebounds (9) but they slipped to a second straight loss in the Spanish LEB Silver league.

There were a number of excellent performances from our Tall Ferns and Tall Blacks overseas last week.

The majority of our American college players were involved in Thanksgiving tournaments. There were a large number of games and plenty of strong performances so here is a quick recap.

 It was a mixed weekend from the Nebraska Huskers at the Wooden Legacy but a stunning three games from Tai Webster. He fouled out in 27 minutes as the Huskers edged Dayton 80-78 on Friday but scored 16 points before exiting. The following night the combo guard produced a career high 7 assists added to 19 points and 7 rebounds as the Huskers fell to UCLA 82-71. The former Westlake standout finished off with a game high 23 points plus 8 boards as Nebraska went down 66-53 to Virginia Tech.

St Mary’s Gaels were the hosts at the Hilton Concord Classic but went down 83-78 to Boise state on Saturday and 63-62 on Sunday to Utah. Stella Beck came within a whisker of a double double in both games. She followed up 15 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds with 11 points and 9 rebounds.

Kalani Purcell went stats stuffing at the UNM tournament in Albuquerque. Coincidentally BYU won both their games 71-56 firstly against St Joseph’s then Tulsa.

No coincidence that Purcell was in the tick of things with 12/11/6/4b v St Joe’s and 19/7/6/2b/3st the next day.

Fellow Tall Ferns forward Penina Davidson was also busy. She landed 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 blocks as Cal Berkley beat San Francisco 75-52 at their own Cal Classic tournament. Davidson made an even better return in the second game – 14p/9r/2a/2st/2b as the Golden Bears recorded another win this time against Duquesne 86-66.

Tessa Boagni was in fine rebounding form as Cal State, Northridge accounted for Detroit Mercy 76-67 at the Raddison Chatsworth Classic. Boagni snared 9 boards to accompany 4 points and a pair of blocks. There were another 9 boards plus 8 points for the Cantabrian in the 63-59 loss to Michigan State on Sunday.

Krystal Leger-Walker produced 11 points and 8 assists as Northern Colorado Bears beat the hosts University of Texas-San Antonio 73-66 on Saturday at the UTSA Classic. Leger-Walker had a poor shooting night (2/9FG) as the Bears downed Eastern Michigan 58-57 in their second game but the Waikato guard was all hustle with 4 assists and 5 steals. Her fifth steal was critical – secured with 18 seconds to play it enabled the Bears to set up the game winning final play.

Jacinta Beckley produced her best return of the season to date with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists as Seattle Redhawks went down to Portland State 79-71.

There was a nice return for Jack Salt as Virginia Cavs won both games at the Emarald Coast Classic. The Cavs beat Iowa 74-41 and Providence 63-52. Salt started in both games but really made a mark in game two with 8 points (4/6FG) and 6 rebounds in 27 minutes of action.

Tai Wynyard is struggling for court time at Kentucky but did put his limited time to good use against Cleveland State scoring 4 points and securing 3 rebounds in just four minutes as the Wildcats improved to 5-0 with a 101-70 victory against Cleveland State.

Away from college hoops:

In an Australian WNBL Grand Final rematch Perth Lynx stole a win in Townsville defeating the Fire 89-85 in another classic on Friday night.

The match pitched Tall Fern v Tall Fern as both Micaela Cocks and Toni Edmondson featured strongly for their respective teams.

For Perth Edmondson scored a season high 18 points (6/12FG, 3/7 3PG), secured a game high 11 rebounds and added a block and a steal.

Cocks also came close to a double double adding 9 rebounds to her 14 points for the Fire. The defending champions slip to sixth on the ladder with a 5-6 record, Perth (7-3) moved to second the table.

La Murra Lucca (7-1) proved far too good for bottom of the table Battipaglia in Italian League action. Jillian Harmon bullied the Batt’s to record 25 points and 8 rebounds.

Despite going down 60-57 at Zomotza Mike Karena’s Sammic ISB are still top of the Spanish second division competition with a 7-3 record. Karena had a double double of 10 points and 11 rebounds in his latest outing

In other news

There has been some bad news followed by better news for Tall Ferns Brooke Blair. As reported a couple of weeks ago Blair went down after just seven minutes of Idaho State’s 82-78 season opening loss to Santa Clara.

It can be confirmed that the former Rangitoto College standout has suffered a season ending ACL injury. The Bengals combo guard was looking forward to a successful senior year but will now spend the coming months rehabbing. The silver lining for Blair is that she is permitted to redshirt the current campaign meaning that she will be eligible to conclude her college career in the 2017-18 season.

Last season Blair started all 33 games for the Bengals reaching double figures in 26 contests. Averaging 12.4 points per game she finished second on the teams scoring and fourteenth on the Big Sky Conference scoring list earning Conference All-Tournament team selection.

Her consistent performances caught the eye of the Tall Ferns selectors and Blair made her full international debut against the Czech Republic in May on the tour of China

The following month she returned to her native North Shore and scored 22 points for New Zealand Select against China B at AUT Sports Centre.

The 22 year old is understandably “disappointed” to have to sit out the current season but as she told the Lowdown, “I will now concentrate on my rehab programme with the aim being to be fully fit for next season.”

Tai Webster, on the back of a career high 23 points for Nebraska University, wins the Lowdown player of the week gong. Nebraska beat Louisiana Tech 65-54 to maintain an unbeaten start to the season (3-0).

Webster had a fine all round game as he added 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals on a night when he was almost perfect from the foul line (11/12FT) and went 5 from 11 from the field.

 Second spot went to Stella Beck as she produced a highly efficient 7 from 9 shooting performance as St Mary’s Gaels defeated Northeastern in Boston 77-53. The former Hutt Valley standout finished with a team high 18 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Isaac Fotu gets the bronze this week after coming close to a double double as Zaragoza went down 101-92 in overtime at Baskonia. Fotu had 14 points, 9 rebounds and a couple of steals – Zaragoza slipped to 12^th on the Spanish League ladder with a 3-6 record.

Despite a fine individual performance Kalani Purcell couldn’t prevent BYU fallingto a second consecutive defeat going down 68-61 to Oklahoma University. Purcell secured a team high 13 rebounds to go with 8 points, 3 assists and 4 steals. Fourth spot for the pugnacious Purcell this week.

Tessa Boagni continued her good early season form almost completing a double double (13 points and 9 rebounds) as Cal State Northridge accounted for Fresno Sate Bulldogs 61-57.

Moment of the week:

This belonged to Krystal Leger-Walker. The combo guard had a poor shooting night (2/9FG) for Northern Colorado Bears against Florida Gulf Coast but did connect with a critical three with one second left on the clock to tie the scores at 59 apiece in regulation. Leger-Walker managed just 5 points but that three provided the Bears with the opportunity to go on and win 77-74 in double overtime.

Bubbling under:

Jarrod Kenny made a welcome return to the Perth ranks as the Wildcats shared the spoils with the Sydney Kings over the weekend. The Cats won in Perth 93-80 where Kenny scored 5 points and dished 5 assists. His numbers were similar in Sydney (3 points and 5 assists) but the result was reversed as the Kings prevailed 83-72.

 It was a bad weekend for our Tall Ferns in the Australian WNBL. Micaela Cocks and Chev Paalvast (Townsville Fire), Jordan Hunter (Adelaide Lightning), Jess Bygate (Melbourne Boomers) and Toni Edmondson (Perth Lynx) all endured losses for their respective teams.

Edmondson was the only one of the five producing a significant contribution – 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists as Perth slip to joint second on the ladder with a 6-3 record.

In other News

 Jess Bygate will spend the Australian WNBL off-season with Sandringham Sabres in the SEABL competition. Currently playing in the WNBL with the Melbourne Boomers Bygate will remain in the Victorian capital. Last winter she teamed up with Tall Ferns coach Kennedy Kereama at Sunbury Jets but for the 2017 season has decided to switch from the Big V League to the South East Australian Basketball League.

Junior Tall Ferns and NZ Under 18 3×3 internationals Zara Jillings and Kendell Heremaia are the latest athletes to confirm they will be heading to the USA next year to pursue college careers. Both are off to Fordham University on four-year scholarships.

Meanwhile Junior Tall Black and Auckland Grammar swingman Taki Fahrensohn has signed on with the University of Portland.

On Wednesday afternoon, Tuesday in the States, three Tall Blacks were involved in college games with all three on winning teams.

Tai Wynyard found himself playing in the iconic Madison Square Garden for Kentucky Wildcats against Michigan State. The Wildcats were too good for Michigan winning 69-48 although Wynyard was only granted two minutes of action, just enough time to snare a couple of rebounds.

Jack Salt retained a starting berth for Virginia Cavaliers as they ran riot against St Francis Brooklyn winning 72-32. The sophomore centre went a perfect 3 from 3 shooting adding a brace of rebounds to 6 points in 16 minutes as coach Tony Bennett utilised 14 players.

Nebraska Huskers were also on the right side of a lop sided scoreline defeating University of Mary 70-38 with Tai Webster one of two Huskers in double figures. The point guard notched 10 points in addition to 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.