LACEY LOWDOWN

Kalani Purcell – West Coast Conference Player of the Week

Outstanding performances from Jillian Harmon in Europe, Micaela Cocks in Australia and Kalani Purcell, Josie Stockill and Tessa Boagni in the States highlighted Tall Ferns efforts overseas in the past week.

Jillian Harmon once again led the Le Mura Lucca scoring with 22 points as it won a tight one, 75-68, against Unbertide (6-8) in the Italian SerieA. The Tall Ferns forward produced an and one play to give Lucca the lead in the final two minutes after they had trailed 56-53 at three-quarter time.

Lucca has an equal share of top spot on the ladder with an impressive 13-1 record.

Perth Lynx (12-6) retained its spot at the top of the Australian WNBL ladder despite losing one of its two road games this week.

On Thursday the Lynx went down 83-73 at Sydney University Flames. However on Saturday they bounced back against bottom of the table Canberra Capitals, recording a comprehensive 89-63 victory.

Tall Ferns guard Toni Edmondson played strong minutes off the bench in both encounters recording 8 points (2/4 3PG) against Sydney and 5 points (2/5FG) against Canberra.

Perth finished bottom of the WNBL table last season but since being taken over by the Perth Wildcats NBL franchise at the start of this campaign have enjoyed a massive change of fortune. When asked how she was enjoying the season Edmondson said, “I’ve really enjoyed it. I enjoy the professionalism being a full time basketballer – it’s really exciting. I enjoy coming to work every day and trying to get better.”

Micaela Cocks played all but 6 minutes for Townsville Fire (11-6) on Saturday night as they surprisingly suffered a home defeat at the hands of the Shane Heal coached South East Queensland Stars, 90-80.

Cocks scored 15 points and added a team high 6 assists but her efforts were to no avail as the Fire was outscored 27-17 in the last period to suffer a fourth home loss of the campaign.

The WNBL now takes a two-week break to allow the Australian Opals squad to attend a pre Olympics tournament in Rio.

There was plenty of action in American College games involving our Tall Ferns.

In a game that featured nine lead changes and four ties, Seattle University Seahawks made key stops and free throws down the stretch to earn a 69-63 win over UMKC in their Western Athletic Conference home opener on Thursday.

Jacinta Beckley made an important contribution off the bench for Seattle nailing an important triple on her way to 7 points (2/4FG) and 3 rebounds.

Also on Thursday Cal State Univ Northridge Matadors lost 75-52 to UC Davis in both teams’ 2016 Big West Conference opener. Cantabrian Tessa Boagni scored a game-high 20 points for the Matadors, finishing 8-of-13 from the field.

UC Davis jumped out to a 9-0 advantage and led 24-8 after the first period, a lead that proved to be game winning.

Boagni scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half and added three rebounds a block and one steal in 27 minutes. For the season, she is averaging a team-high 12.4 points per game on 48.5 percent shooting.

In a third game on Thursday BYU Provo Cougars topped Santa Clara 68-63 in its fourth conference game of the season.

Kalani Purcell totaled 17 points and a game-high 12 boards in compiling her sixth double-double of the year. Purcell played all 40 minutes for the third time this year as she also added 2 blocks and 3 steals.

BYU completed its two-game road trip in the Bay Area with a 66–57 win over San Francisco on Saturday and improve to a 4-1 record in West Coast Conference games. Purcell again played a major hand recording a career high 9 assists to compliment 6 points and 4 rebounds.

Purcell’s performances earned her the West Coast Conference Player of the Week Award.

On Friday Univ of Cal, Berkley bounced back after dropping its first two Pac-12 games, the No. 21ranked Golden Bears defeated Colorado 64-35 in their conference home opener. Penina Davidson fouled out in 19 minutes with 2 points (1/2FG) and a pair of rebounds to her name.

Hot off the press Cal was defeated 84-79 at home by Utah on Sunday (US time) with Davidson coming off the bench with a 7 points (2/5FG, 2/2FT) and 2 rebounds contribution. The Bears are now 1-3 in conference action.

Josie Stockill’s third double-double of the season wasn’t quite enough to prevent Navy from posting a 51-41 Patriot League win over Colgate University on Saturday.

Stockill scored 10 points and grabbed 11 boards. It was her third twin-figure rebounding game in the last four outings and pushed her collegiate total past the 500 mark to 508. The nation’s leading shot-blocker also added three in this game and now has 60 for the season and 196 for her career.

Edmondson scored 6 points but Perth was defeated by Townsville in WNBL

The last two days of 2016 saw three mate versus mate match ups as six of our Tall Ferns found themselves facing off against international team mates.

In Perth, on New Year’s Eve, top of the NBL ladder Perth Lynx (11-5) entertained defending champions Townsville Fire (10-5).

Townsville’s Micaela Cocks would have enjoyed the post game celebrations more than Perth’s Toni Edmondson. The Fire got off to a red hot 11-2 start before going on to recorded a crucial 77-71 victory. Cocks dished a game high 4 assists to compliment 3 rebounds and 2 points. Edmondson had 6p/1r/1a/1 steal for the hosts.

Also on New Years Eve, in Utah, St Mary’s visited BYU, Provo.

Kalani Purcell opened the scoring with a three for BYU who eventually went on to win a tight encounter 69-59. Purcell, who played all 40 minutes, recorded 9 points (3/6FG) and 11 rebounds. In reply Tall Ferns teammate Stella Beck made 8 points (3/9FG), 4 rebounds and 2 assists as St Mary’s Gaels suffered its first road loss of the season.

24 hours earlier two of our up and coming Kiwi forwards were in direct opposition as University of California, Berkley hosted California State University, Northridge.

Tessa Boagni put the first points on the board for CSU Matadors but unfortunately for Boagni, Penina Davidson and her Cal Berkley Golden Bears took control thereafter. The Bears led 30-11 midway through the second quarter and eventually coasted to a 106-44 victory.

Boagni (10 points) shot a tidy 5 from 8 field goals for the overpowered Matadors whilst Davidson had 2 points (1/2FG) and 5 rebounds for the Golden Bears before having to leave the game with a back injury in the second quarter.

Career high 33 points for Harmon in Italy

It is hard to go past the performance of Josie Stockill when assessing the standout performance of our overseas Tall Ferns during the pre Xmas week although Jillian Harmon and Penina Davidson both produced exceptional career high efforts.

Stockill stole the show as she led Colgate to a 72-59 road victory over Lafayette in the Patriot League opener establishing numerous personal and college records in the process.

A week out from her 22^nd birthday Stockill finished with 27 points and 13 blocks, both career-bests. Her first two blocks were particularly special as it gave the senior the programme’s all-time leading blocks title. She now has 182 career blocks to her name.

Her 13 blocks in the game were also significant as it broke Colgate’s record for blocks in a single game, she was just three shy of matching the NCAA’s all-time record for blocks in a game. Her game total was the NCAA Division I high for the season by three blocks.

The Napier Girls High School alumna is enjoying a stand out season for the Raiders averaging a team high 13.0 points and 4.6 blocks per game.

In Italy Harmon fashioned a performance to rival Stockill’s as Le Mura Lucca returned to winning ways with a comprehensive 72-51 victory at home against San Giovanni on Tuesday.  A week after suffering its first loss of the season Harmon powered Lucca to victory scoring a career high 33 points (14/20FG) aligned with 5 rebounds and a massive 8 steals.

Harmon is averaging 17.8 points per game for Lucca that improves to 11-1 and equal top in SerieA.

If Harmon and Stockill produced the individual highlights Penina Davidson was involved in the game of the week.

Playing a non-conference game against Pac-12 foe, No. 21-ranked Cal Berkley Golden Bears came through when it mattered most, outlasting the No. 19-ranked UCLA Bruins to earn a heart-stopping 108-104 win last Monday. The Bears scored 5 points in the final 30 seconds of the second overtime period to secure the win.

Davidson scored a career high-tying 15 points off the bench. The Tall Ferns centre tied the game inside the last 60 seconds of the first overtime period but fouled out on the next play.

“I’ve been here for eight years as an assistant and a head coach and that’s the most exciting game I’ve ever been part of, said Cal’s Lindsay Gottlieb who participated in her first double overtime game as the Bears’ head coach.

The Saint Mary’s team led by as many as 22 and hit 12 three-pointers to give the Gaels a 78-68 win over San Francisco in the West Coast Conference opener for both squads last Monday. Stella Beck put together an impressive stat line of 11p/9r/2a/4 steals.

Two Days later Beck scored 5 points and contributed 6 assists as the Gaels was defeated by Santa Clara 73-67.

The Gaels have a short break before taking on Kalani Purcell’s BYU Provo on New Years Eve.

Talking of BYU it fell to San Diego 78-65, in its first game of West Coast Conference play, on Wednesday despite a fifth double double of the season from Kalani Purcell. The small forward had 14 points and 11 rebounds, also adding 4 assists and 3 blocks.

After an 8-3 start to the season BYU will be disappointed to have dropped its opening conference game but will hope to bounce back when it hosts St Mary’s.

Jacinta Beckley played just 8 minutes as Seattle was defeated 92-70 at UC Riverside last Monday. Beckley scored a couple of points in addition to an assist and a rebound,

All Australian WNBL teams are enjoying a short break over the Xmas period before ‘hostilities’ resume on New Years Eve when third on the ladder Townsville Fire visit top of the table Perth Lynx.

Records galore from Josie Stockill

Worthy of a special story is the performance of Tall Ferns centre Josie Stockill on Tuesday.

Stockill stole the show as she led Colgate Raiders to a 72-59 road victory over Lafayette in the Patriot League opener establishing numerous records in the process.

A week out from her 22^nd birthday Stockill finished with 27 points and 13 blocks, both career-bests. Her first two blocks were particularly special as it gave the senior the programme’s all-time leading blocks title. She now has 182 career blocks to her name.

Her 13 total blocks in the game were also significant as it broke Colgate’s record for blocks in game, she was just three shy of matching the NCAA’s all-time record for blocks in a game.

Her game total was the NCAA Division I high for the season by three blocks.

The Napier Girls High School alumna is enjoying a stand out season for the Raiders averaging a team high 13.0 points and 4.6 blocks per game.

It would have been nice for Stockill to have given such a commanding  performance at Cotterell Court,  Colgate’s home venue, but perhaps with the season only one third complete more stats stuffing shows are just around the corner.

Career high 28pts for Tessa Boagni

A double dose of Tessa Boagni that included career high rebounding and points scoring plus a season high 15 points from Micaela Cocks headline this week’s Tall Ferns action.

Overall it was a quieter week in American college basketball as some teams pause before a busy Conference schedule begins.

One player that didn’t get a break this week was Tessa Boagni. Her Cal State Northridge Matadors team (2-8) defeated Portland 68-62 on Friday for just its second win of the season but went down 83-77 against Portland State two days later.

In the first game the sophomore centre recorded her second career double double finishing with 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds as the Matadors snapped a four-game losing streak.

48 hours later Boagni did even better as she led all scorers with a career high 28 points with 11/20 from the field and a perfect 6/6 from the foul line.

In Australia the South East Queensland Stars, the WNBL’s newest franchise, recorded an impressive 95-75 victory over Townsville Fire in Logan on Friday night.

Having endured a tough first-up loss in the inaugural Queensland derby, SEQ ensured that there would be no repeat as they squared the ledger at home ahead of the third and deciding encounter in North Queensland in the New Year.

Micaela Cocks was one of just three Fire players in double figures on the night scoring 10 points (4/10FG) and also capturing 2 steals.

The Fire had the opportunity to bounce back 48 hours later and did so defeating Dandenong Rangers 70-61 in Townsville. Cocks joint top scored for the Fire with 15 points (5/9FG) and added a brace of rebounds and assists.

In other WNBL action Perth Lynx remained top of the table with a comfortable 88-68 home win against the winless Canberra Capitals on Friday night. Toni Edmondson slotted in 4 points for the Lynx and also secured a pair of rebounds.

All WNBL teams now enjoy a break before Perth entertains Townsville on New Years Eve.

Despite 17 points from Jillian Harmon Le Mura Lucca was defeated for the first time this season going down 73-67 at home to Ragusa on Saturday. Both teams now boast a 10-1 record and jointly lead the Italian SerieA.

Also in Europe Erin Rooney turned in a fine display scoring 18 points for the second week running as COB Calais won two in a row for the first time this season. The Seagirls – not so sure about that nickname – beat Landes 75-69. Calais has improved to 3-7 after losing the first 6 games in the French league.

Back in the States Stella Beck put together an efficient scoring performance to help St Mary’s Gaels defeat Cal Poly 87-73 after the scores were tied 75 each after regulation time. Beck knocked down 16 points with 5/7 from the field and a perfect 6/6 from the foul line. The former Hutt Valley guard also added 5 rebounds, 2 assists a block and a steal.

Colgate University was comfortably beaten 62-38 by St Bonaventure at home on Saturday. Josie Stockill scored 6 points on a shooting off night (1/6FG) but did add 4 rebounds and two blocks. Stockill’s next block ties her with Colgate’s all time individual career record of 170. Another point of interest is that Colgate failed to score in the opening quarter trailing 10-0 after 10 minutes. Probably not a first but still unusual at college level.

Seattle University (5-6) fell behind early to Boise State (6-4) and could not overcome the deficit as they fell, 84-66, to the Broncos in the grand reopening of Seattle’s Connolly Complex North Court. Boise’s Junior Tall Fern Ella Fotu (5pts) earned bragging rights over Seattle’s Jacinta Beckley (2pts) in this encounter.

Erin Rooney (18pts) paces COB Calais to second win of the season

Jillian Harmon’s Le Mura Lucca met last season’s champions Famila Wuber Schio in the game of the round in the Italian League. Both teams were unbeaten but Lucca underlined their title credentials with an impressive 63-47 away victory. Jillian Harmon was one of three Lucca players in double figures the Tall Ferns forward scoring 13 points to go with triples in assists, rebounds and steals.  A 21-5 third term was instrumental in Lucca’s ninth straight win. Continue reading →

Career high 23pts for Josie Stockill

Erin Rooney’s performance eight days ago missed last week’s report but deserves highlighting, as do the career high efforts of Josie Stockill and the continued strong performances from Kalani Purcell and Jillian Harmon. Continue reading →

Kalani Purcell is in terrific early season form for BYU

We start this week’s Tall Ferns roundup by highlighting the startling figures produced by Kalani Purcell for Brigham Young University – Idaho in the past week. Continue reading →

Tessa Boagni scores 21 points for the Matadors

With no games involving our European based players this week we begin our roundup with a look at the USA College games involving our Tall Ferns. Tessa Boagni and Josie Stockill were standouts as both recorded career highs. Continue reading →