LACEY LOWDOWN

Stella Beck logged her third double-double of the year for St Mary’s Gaels in the win against San Francisco (72-64) on Thursday, scoring a game-high 26 points and tying a season-high with 11 rebounds. She followed that up with a 25-point, nine-rebound performance in the win against Portland on Saturday. The 51 points across the two games moved her into 15th all-time on the Saint Mary’s career scoring list.

St Mary’s are 11-5 in West Coast Conference action.

Jacinta Beckley produced 11 points and 9 rebounds but unfortunately Seattle Redhawks fell 69-67 in overtime at Texas-Rio Grande Valley. That was followed by a second road loss, 64-53 at New Mexico State, with Beckley scoring 10 points in that one. Despite the losses the Redhawks are still handily placed in the Western Athletic Conference with a 7-4 record.

Brooke Blair produced 13 points (5/11FG), 4 rebounds and 3 assists to help Idaho State Bengals to an 83-71 home win against Sacramento State mid week. She was also in double figures with 11 points in a 72-64 win against Portland State on Sunday. The Bengals are 9-5 in the Big Sky Conference with four games to play.

What a shooting performance from from Tessa Boagni. The Cal State Northridge Matadors centre shot 8 from 10 from the field and 10 out of 10 from the free throw line. Boagni finished with a game high 26 points (plus 9 rebounds) as the Matadors beat Cal Poly 86-66 and are now 7-6 in Pac 12 Conference play.

It was a big night for Penina Davidson on Saturday being recognised at the Cal Berkeley Bears seniors ceremony following the ‘Battle of the Bay’ against arch rivals Stanford.

Stanford, ranked number 17 nationally, and Cal, met twice in three days with Stanford prevailing 74-69 on Thursday but the Bears avenging that defeat with a 78-66 win two days later in front of 4,000 home fans. In her final home game Davidson snared 8 rebounds – 5 at the offensive end – plus 3 points, 2 assists, 2 blocks and a steal.

It’s been quite a week for 2016 Junior Tall Fern Tiarna Clarke. The former Westlake combo-guard enjoyed career nights in consecutive games to help Northern Colorado Bears (12-3 in the Big Sky Conference) to two wins. Clarke bettered her 19 points against Northern Arizona on Thursday by scoring 20 points against Southern Utah two days later.

Kendell Heremaia, another 2016 JTF had her most productive scoring game of the season scoring 11 points (3/5 3PG) in Fordham Rams 79-54 loss at Dayton- Fordham now 11-3 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

A third JTF Tera Reed snared a career best 16 rebounds to accompany 12 points but Virginia Commonwealth slipped to 3-11 in Atlantic 10 Conference games after a 59-54 loss at Richmond.

And the Men………….

Two former Harbour players met when Jack Salt and newly crowned No 1 ranked Virginia Cavaliers visited Sam Waardenburg and Miami Hurricanes. in an internationally televised encounter. It was Virginia’s first game carrying the top ranking in NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball since December 1982 and after losing their last outing – an overtime defeat at the hands of Virginia Tech – ensured their would be no upset and prevailed 59-50.

Salt finished with 2 points, an assist and a team high 7 rebounds whilst Waardenburg, who is enjoying increased court time for Miami, made 6 points (2/3 FG, 2/2 3PG) and claimed a steal.

Izayah Le’afa made all three of his three point attempts as he put up a stats stuffing 15 points, 3 rebounds a pair of steals and blocks plus an assist for Sacramento State Hornets. Unfortunately the Hornets, now 3-11 in the Big Sky Conference, slipped to a fifth straight loss going down 83-73 to Weber State.

Sam Timmins had 8 rebounds and 2 points in the game Washington Huskies retired the No 2 jersey of former Huskie, now Los Angeles Lakers star Isaiah Thomas on Saturday. The Huskies beat Colorado 82-59 and now sit 8-6 in the Pac 12 Conference.

Tiarna Clarke posted a career best twice in one week, Tera Reed did it twice plus double doubles from Katie Diakhaby, Alex Talma and Reed.

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In the latest chapter of Kiwi versus Kiwi Jack Salt scored the first field goal of the game for newly crowned No 1 ranked Virginia Cavaliers when they visited Sam Waardenburg and Miami Hurricanes on Tuesday (US time).

It was Virginia’s first game carrying the top ranking in NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball since December 1982 and after losing their last outing – an overtime defeat at the hands of Virginia Tech – ensured their would be no upset and prevailed 59-50.

Virginia made a strong start jumping out to an early 13-2 lead but helped by a Waardenburg triple, with his first shot of the game, Miami narrowed to 13-12.

Aided by a 10-0 run Virginia reached half-time with a 27-16 advantage keeping Miami to their lowest first half score this season.

Another Waardenbug three reduced the Virginia advantage to 38-34 with nine minutes to play but that would be as close as Miami would get to the Atlantic Coast Conference leaders. Virginia now 13-1 in conference play with Miami slipping to 7-6.

Salt finished with 2 points, an assist and a team high 7 rebounds whilst Waardenburg finished with 6 points (2/3 FG, 2/2 3PG) and a steal.

Could they meet again in the ACC Tournament next month?

The biggest news in our weekly look at Kiwis in American college hoops is that Jack Salt has helped take Virginia Cavaliers to the Number 1 ranking in men’s basketball. The achievement comes despite Virginia slipping to their first Atlantic Coast Conference loss of the season when they went down in overtime 61-60 to Virginia Tech at the weekend. It’s the first time Virginia have been ranked No 1 since 1982

Tai Wynyard and Kentucky were No 1 in November 2016 but this is probably the first time a Kiwi has been a starter in a top ranked team.

Two other regular starters are Sam Timmins and Izayah Le’afa.

Le’afa dished a game high 5 assists and also scored 11 points (3/7 3PG) but Sacramento State Hornets slid to a third straight loss going down 92-76 at Montana State. The Hornets are 3-8 in Big Sky Conference play.

Timmins scored 4 points (2/2FG) and snared 4 rebounds but Washington Huskies lost a thriller in double overtime (97-94) to Oregon State. The Huskies are now 7-5 in the Pac 12 Conference.

There were also some very good performances amongst our top women.

St Mary’s Gaels made a major statement in the West Coast Conference. Not only did they defeat unbeaten Gonzaga 72-56 but also they achieved the victory at Gonzaga. Stella Beck was a major player in the game adding 13 points and 5 rebounds to a game high 9 assists as the Gaels moved to 9-5 in conference games.

Jacinta Beckley was within three points of a career best as she amassed 23 points (7/13FG, 8/8FT) as Seattle Redhawks beat Chicago State 72-60. With its 7-2 record Seattle are now second on the Western Athletic Conference ladder.

Brooke Blair bounced back in style from a poor midweek showing against Northern Colorado when she failed to score for the first time this season. Against North Dakota she rattled off a team high 19 points (6/11FG) for Idaho State Bengals as they won 68-55 to improve to 7-5 in the Big Sky Conference. The 19 points tally moved Blair past 300 points for the season at an average of 13.6ppg.

Despite a fine shooting performance from Tessa Boagni Cal State Northridge Matadors lost 59-51 at home to Long Beach State. Boagni scored a team high 19 points on the back of 7 from 10 from the field including 4 from 5 from distance. The Cantabrian also added 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. The Matadors are 6-5 in the Big West Conference after slipping to a second loss of the week going down 72-46 to UC Davis – 7 points and 7 rebounds for Boagni in that one.

Penina Davidson was one rebound shy of a double-double as Cal Berkeley Bears edged a thriller against Colorado winning 78-76. Davidson scored 10 points (4/9FG) and corralled nine rebounds, which included 5 offensive boards. She followed that with team high’s in rebounds (7) and blocks (3) as the Bears improved to 8-6 in Pac 12 Conference contests with an 84-73 win against Utah on Sunday.

Mary Goulding managed 10 points and 4 rebounds as Fordham Rams moved their Atlantic 10 Conference record to 10-2 with a 58-45 record against Davidson.

Also in the Atlantic 10 Tera Reed, who has been outstanding all season for Virginia Commonwealth University Rams, posted 27 points on 11 from 18 (61%) shooting against Duquesne – but it wasn’t enough with the Rams falling 80-71.

The Rams bounced back on Sunday outlasting St Bonaventure 77-75 in overtime and improving to 3-9 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Reed filled the stats line with 6 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals in the win.

Krystal Leger-Walker recorded her first double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds) to help Northern Colorado Bears move to 10-3 in Big Sky Conference play with a narrow 71-69 overtime win against Weber State. The scores were locked at 60 points apiece after fourty minutes, the Bears securing the win courtesy of a triple with just 0.4 seconds left on the clock. Earlier Leger-Walker had tied the game in regulation with her third triple of the game.

Fresno State Bulldogs are now 9-4 in the Mountain West Conference after a 66-60 win at San Diego State. Katelin Noyer pulled down 5 boards to go with 7 points (3/5FG) for the Dogs. Fresno State head coach Jaime White was pleased with the efforts of the former Westlake centre, “I thought she had a good matchup tonight, she came in with poise and finished some shots.”

Both Tera Reed and Sam Waardenburg produced career best scoring efforts for their respective colleges on Wednesday (US time). Both are freshmen and both seem to be flourishing as their team’s head towards the business end of the season.

Reed has been outstanding all season for Virginia Commonwealth University Rams. In their latest outing Reed posted 27 points on 11 from 18 (61%) shooting but it wasn’t enough with the Rams falling 80-71 to second placed Duquesne – VCU now 2-9 in Atlantic 10 Conference play. It was the 18^th double-figure scoring effort of the season from the Westlake Girls alumni and her third 20+ points haul of the campaign.

Reed added 3 rebounds, 2 steals and a team high 6 assists for good measure.

The Waardenburg numbers aren’t as impressive as Reed’s but the former Rangitoto College forward played a major role for the Miami Hurricanes as they held off Wake Forrest to win 87-81 and move to 7-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Earning more and more trust from Miami head coach Jim Larranaga and his staff, Waardenburg played most of the second half in a tight, enthralling contest. The stretch four made three from three triples and three from four free throws when the game was in the balance. He finished with 12 points, three rebounds, an assist and a block.

Next week the fourth placed Hurricanes will cross swords with conference leaders and the No 2 ranked Virginia who of course have Jack Salt anchoring their stingy defence – that should be worth watching.