Charlisse Leger-Walker produced a season best 27 points (5/10 3PG) as Washington State downed San Francisco 72-58. Making her 30th consecutive start she also produced 2 blocks and 3 steals.
Krystal Leger-Walker was also piling on the numbers lining up 7 points, 6 rebounds and a team high 5 dimes – Krystal has produced at least 1 assist in 45 consecutive games.
Those 27 points mean sophomore CL-W has already passed 500 NCAA Division I career points. Put into perspective that mark has only been reached by 31 Kiwi women with the young Tall Fern taking the least number of games to reach the 500 mark.
Playing a game high 35 minutes Tera Reed finished with 9 points (3/5FG), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, a block and a steal (with zero turnovers) as USC defeated UC Irvine 79-68. Freshman Olivia Williams had 4 rebounds and 2 points for UCI.
Other Women’s Results:
Fresno State 72 (Amiee Book 3pts, 3rebs, 1 block) California Berkeley 73
In Men’s Division I action Miami University Hurricanes were paced by Sam Waardenburg’s 14 points as they beat Penn State 63-58 in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The former Rangitoto College forward made 5 from 11 from the field, 4 from 8 from beyond the arc and also came up with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Callum McRae scored 12 points (6/7FG) and Flynn Cameron 9 points as UC Riverside lost a tight contest at Oregon Ducks 71-65. In his 49th start for UCR McRae also came up with 4 rebounds and a block.
Colorado State made it 8 straight wins after having little trouble with Little Rock winning 86-55. James Moors scored 8 points on 4 from 5 shooting and also snared 3 rebounds.
Also with 8 points, plus 5 rebounds and a block, was Dan Fotu as Saint Mary’s Gaels (8-1) won at the death at Utah State 60-58.
When the Sky Sport Breakers open their 2021-22 NBL campaign at South East Melbourne Phoenix on Saturday evening Tom Abercrombie will be missing from the lineup as he recovers from a side strain.
It’s a frustrating time for Abercrombie as he missesd the final nine games of last season. Prior to that he had made 117 successive appearances dating back to 2016.
Only Mika Vukona, Paul Henare and Aaron Olson have played more games on the bounce for the Breakers.
Mika played 161 straight games between 2010 and 2015 while Henare and Olson both played in the club’s opening 130 games from October 2003 to the end of the 2006-07 season.
Finn Delany requires 8 points on Saturday to move ahead of Oscar Forman (1,265 points) into 13th spot on the Breakers all-time scoring list.
Another 10 rebounds will also carry Delany ahead of Forman on the all-time rebounding list – up to 10th spot.
125 players have so far worn the Breakers singlet in the NBL. Peyton Siva, Hugo Besson, Jeremiah Martin, Ousmane Dieng, Sam Timmins and Yanni Wetzell are all poised to make their club debuts against SEM on Saturday – which one will be Breaker #126?
Yanni Wetzell will become the seventh Westlake Boys High School alumni to suit up for the Breakers. He follows in the footsteps of Abercrombie, Kirk Penney, Rob Loe, Jack Salt and the Webster brothers Corey and Tai.
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.
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
Southern Idaho College Golden Eagles have soared to #10 on the NJCAA Division I 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.
The Cantabrian was almost as destructive in the 62-40 success against Eastern Wyoming as she pulled down 8 rebounds and had deuces in assists, steals and points.
Keeley Tini was a rebound shy of her fifth double-double of the season in
Williston State’s narrow 69-65 loss to Laramie County. She finished with 17 points (6/9FG, 2/3 3PG) and 9 rebounds. Tini sits 27th on the NJCAA Division I rebounding list (10.1rpg) and just outside the Top-50 scorers averaging 15.8ppg the top Kiwi in both statistical categories.
Kay-Hauata Phillips and Te Araroa Sopoaga both finished in double figures as Cloud Community College dominated Northeast Hawks 78-48.
The pair are the top two scorers for the T-Birds this season and nothing changed in this one as they scored 14 and 11 respectively on a combined 12 from 17 from the field. Phillips added 6 rebounds with Sopoaga dishing 5 assists to go with 8 boards.
Parehuia Delamere continues to impress with her stats stuffing performances for Western Texas.
Despite the Westerners losing 86-65 to Weatherford the former Harbour guard posted 6 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals, 2 assists and a block. Jordyn Maddix had 3 points and 3 rebounds for Western Texas. Briarley Rogers is still side-lined for Weatherford as she recovers from a foot injury.
Despite an active display from Jenna Rose Mafua Dodge City were shot down by Seward County 69-62. The former Hutt Valley High standout finished with 7 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals.
Rashaan Smith pulled down a team high 6 rebounds to accompany 3 blocks and 2 points as #11 ranked Western Nebraska thumped Western Wyoming 98-52.
Nebraska made it 2 from 2 over Thanksgiving with a tight 70-59 win against Casper College. Smith didn’t trouble the scorers but Izzy Cook returned to post 4 rebounds and a couple of points.
For #22 ranked Casper Dejaan Schuler made 5 points on 2 of 3 from the field.
Molly Cockburn had 6 points, 3 assists and a brace of steals as Miles College beat Jamestown 72-50.
Waiaaria Rogers tallied 6 points and 5 rebounds but Marshalltown were well beaten by Johnson County (81-41).
Men
Midland College moved to 7-2 with an 82-63 dunking of North Lake. Ollie Hayward had a season best 5 assists to go with 4 points and 4 rebounds.
Nico Hill scored 9 points for Missouri State – West Plains in the 92-77 loss to Western Texas. The Taranaki guard added 5 rebounds and a pair of assists.
Nate Wilson came up with 5 points and a couple of rebounds as South Georgia Tech went down to Eastern Florida State (90-63).
Neosho County were well beaten 92-63 by Connors State although Ezrah Vaigafa managed 8 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and a steal for Neosho.
In another packed day of Thanksgiving Weekend action Tegan Graham and BYU Cougars came back from 13 points down to defeat #22 West Virginia 58-57 in the St Pete Showcase Championship game.
Graham played almost 39 minutes making 11 points while also claiming a pair of rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block – the Wellingtonian now up to 975 career points.
The # 1 ranked team in the West Coast Conference take home the silverware and an unblemished 7-0 record to start the season.
Kruz Perrott-Hunt scored a team high 19 points (4/9 3PG) but couldn’t prevent South Dakota losing 83-70 to Nebraska. The former Nelson Giant also came up with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and a steal in 37 minutes. Perrott-Hunt has scored in double figures in five out of six USD games this season averaging 15.2ppg.
It wasn’t a game to remember for Krystal and Charlisse Leger-Walker at the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship in the Bahamas.
Washington State went down 62-34 to NC State on a night when nothing went well for the Cougars. Washington shot a miserable 26% (14/55) from the field with the Waikato pair faring even worse as they made just one basket apiece from a combined 15 attempts.
On the plus side Krystal had 4 rebounds and the same number of assists while Charlisse had 6 boards, a block and a steal.
Other Women’s Results:
Fresno State 46 (Amiee Book 6pts, 7rebs, 3 assists) Drexel 63
St Mary’s Gaels 68 (Amy West 4pts, 3rebs, 2 steals/ Tayla Dalton 2rbs, 1a, 1 steal/ Jade Kirisome 1reb, 3a, 3 steals)UC Santa Barbara 45
Callum McRae and Kendell Heremaia stole the headlines on Black Friday in the States where no fewer than 16 New Zealander’s were in action in NCAA Division I games.
Heremaia was in double-double territory as Fordham University beat Houston 67-53 at the Cancum Challenge in Mexico. She tallied 11 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in her 123rd game (96th start) for the Rams. That number ties the mark set by Stella Beck (St Mary’s) and Tessa Boagni (CSU Northridge) and places her equal 7th on the NZ Women’s All-Time Div I Appearances list.
McRae dominated the glass with a career high 16 rebounds to go with 10 points, 2 assists, a block and a steal as UC Riverside beat Florida A&M 60-49.
The performance earned the Palmerston North Boys High alum a spot on the All-Tournament trio at the Cerebro Sports Golden Classic.
McRae also reached another milestone becoming the 12th Kiwi to score 600 points in Men’s NCAA Division I basketball.
In scoring 8 points Sam Waardenburg moved past 450 career points in Miami’s 69-63 victory against North Texas.
Other Results:
St Mary’s 68 (Jade Kirisome 11pts, 3rebs, 4a/ Amy West 9pts, 4rebs, 2a, 1 steal/ Tayla Dalton 2pts, 1 assist) Texas Christian 72 (Tara Manumaleuga 1a, 1 block)
Florida International 64 (Grace Hunter 10p, 1reb, 2 blocks) Chicago State 46
UC Irvine 67 (Olivia Williams 9pts, 2 steals) Illinois State 57
Virginia 70 (McKenna Dale (6pts, 1reb, 1a) Rhode Island 80
Former New Zealand Junior Tall Ferns teammates Tera Reed and Kendell Heremaia don’t get a chance to catch up on a regular basis these days. Heremaia is in the heart of New York at Fordham University with Reed on the other side of the States at University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. However, the pair have found themselves in Mexico for Thanksgiving with their respective teams taking part in the Cancun Challenge.
On Friday (NZT) Heremaia top scored for the Rams (3-2) with 14 points (3/6 3PG) but Top-10 ranked Baylor proved too good winning 68-45.
In contrast USC (4-1) took care of business beating Seton Hall 79-56. Reed went scoreless, for the first time this season, but she did come up with 4 rebound and 4 assists for the Trojans.
Washington State (4-0) journeyed to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship where they blew past Miami Hurricanes 62-47.
Charlisse Leger-Walker corralled a career high 15 rebounds to accompany 13 points, 5 assists and 3 steals while Krystal L-W had 8 points, 4 dimes and 5 rebounds.
Tegan Graham and BYU Cougars (6-0) travelled to Florida for the St Pete Showcase pitching themselves against the highly touted Florida State from the America East Conference.
Playing on the Eckerd College court, where Tall Fern Zoe Richards made a name for herself and Hannah Wentworth is playing this season, BYU overcame a late surge from Florida State to win 61-54. Graham finished with a team high 4 assists, 5 points and deuces in blocks, steals and rebounds.
All five Kiwis will be in action again on Sunday (NZT).
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 12th Kiwi to score 600 career points in Men’s NCAA Division I basketball – Callum McRae was the 11th 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 11th 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.
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
Top billing in Junior College action this week goes to Samantha Jenkins for her 30-point outburst with highly commendable notations going the way of Parehuia Delamere, Kay-Hauata Phillips and Te Araroa Sopoaga.
Samantha Jenkins, a former Nayland College standout, knocked down 5 from 10 three-pointers in her 30-point haul as Dawson College Buccaneers beat Northwest College.
Jenkins (who currently sits 13th on the Division I scoring list for this season with 141 points) followed that with two 14-point outings with one of them as Dawson pipped Williston State 61-56. There was a rather unique triple-double from Keeley Tini in this one – she amassed 16 points to accompany 15 rebounds but unfortunately incurred 11 turnovers in the process. Keeley is leading Williston in points scoring (15.6ppg) and rebounding (10.3rpg).
Also posting a career best was Parehuia Delamere as Western Texas College defeated Trinidad State 78-65. Parehuia scored 17 points, including 3 from 5 from beyond the arc – she also came up with 5 steals and 5 assists. Jordyn Maddix dished 6 dimes to go with 5 points as Western Texas moved to 3-5 on the season.
The Kiwi triumvirate at Cloud County were mighty impressive in an 80-55 win against Northwest Kansas Tech. Kay-Hauata Phillips led the way with a career best 21 points (10/17FG) and 14 rebounds. Te Araroa Sopoaga was two points shy of a career high of her own as she filled all the stats columns with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists 5 steals and a block while Te Oriwa Tuipolotu secured 5 rebounds to accompany 8 points.
The trio weren’t as prolific in an 89-74 loss to top 15 ranked Hutchinson College. Sopoaga totalled 10 points and 5 rebounds with Tuipolotu finishing with 6 points and 2 rebounds – both players fouled out in just over 20 minutes.
Central Maine Mustangs, who have made it a perfect 7-0 start to the season also boast three New Zealand players. Taranaki’s Harata Coleman scored 12 points, Safena Te Nana-Williams netted 14 (3/4 3PG) and Leata Te Nana-Williams had 8 points. Safena came close to a double-double as she dished 9 assists as the Mustangs overwhelmed Paul Smith College 100-48.
Western Nebraska Cougars are the #14 ranked Women’s Junior College team in the States and they reaffirmed that position by beating Colorado Northwestern 107-55 with Rashaan Smith accumulating 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks. Izzy Cook posted 4 points and 3 rebounds in the win.
24 hours later Western Nebraska were dealt a blow as in a high scoring encounter they went down 95-89 to #19 College of Southern Idaho. For Southern Idaho Kyra Paniora scored 11 points while Ashlee Strawbridge filled the stats line with 5 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists a steal and a block. Smith had 2 points and 3 rebounds in this one.
Dejaan Schuler scored 14 points, making 4 from 6 from downtown, as Casper College traversed past Wyoming All-Stars 77-57.
Ella Bradley scored 10 points and Maclani Michael 9 points as Utah State Eastern Eagles accounted for Central Wyoming 64-47. Bradley, the team’s leading scorer this season, had 9 points and 9 rebounds as the Eagles then flew past Western Wyoming 59-39.
Jenna Rose Mafua chipped in with 8 points and 5 rebounds as Dodge City College Conquistadors tipped over Cowley College 72-59 to improve to 6-1 this season.
Other Women’s Results:
Miles College 55 (Molly Cockburn 5pts, 2rebs, 1 assist) Bismarck State 79
Marshalltown 65 (Waiaaria Rogers 2pts, 4rebs, 1 assist) Central 56
McCook College 61 (Yzabelle Tevao 3pts, 3rebs) New Mexico 80
In Men’s action former Mt Albert Grammar and Auckland Huskies jumping jack Nate Wilson climbed for 13 rebounds – 6 at the offensive end – and scored 6 points as South Georgia Tech swamped Action Sports Academy 123-41.
Nico Hill came up with 13 points and 5 rebounds as Missouri State West-Plains dominated Link Year Prep to win 83-67.
Midland College played three games in as many days winning two and losing one with Ollie Haywardaccumulating 13 rebounds and 7 points.
Ezrah Vaigafa dished 5 assists and grabbed 5 boards in addition to 3 points as Neosho County trumped Graceland 92-71.
LACEY LOWDOWN 