December 10
After her latest scoring exploits Emme Shearer is up to 7th on the all-time scoring list for New Zealand players in NCAA Division I Women’s hoops.
Shearer scored in double figures for the sixth successive game in compiling 19 points as Portland defeated Ivy League defending champions Princeton 74-55. Shearer was also one shy of her career best in steals as she snared six.
She then posted a career high 7 assists to go with 16 points as Portland won 83-67 against Texas at El Paso. That takes her career tally to 1,258 points passing Amiee Book (CSU Fullerton 2018-21, Fresno State 2021-23) who scored 1,249 points.
Lilly Parke landed 3 from 5 threes on her way to 15 points and 6 rebounds as Fairleigh Dickinson University held off Lafayette to win 69-62. After then mustering 11 points in a 62-54 win against Rider the 2024 Tall Ferns trialist has 399 career points at FDU.
In a game that had 10 ties and 15 lead changes Hawaii lost its Big West Conference opener 73-69 in overtime to Long Beach State. Ritorya Tamilo was a standout in the loss with 14 points, 9 rebounds and a new career mark of 6 blocks.
Helen Matthews joint top scored for Wofford with 13 points in a 71-63 win against Appalachian State
Maia Jones made a pair of threes in the final 60 seconds as St Mary’s staged a late recovery against San Jose State before going down 51-46. The sophomore guard finished with 12 points to go with 5 rebounds and a couple of steals.
Dani Bayes chipped in with 11 points and tied her career high with 6 assists as Boise State defeated San Diego 76-69.
Central Arkansas won a low scoring encounter against Little Rock 55-42 with Leah Mafua posting 11 points and 5 rebounds, plus a couple of blocks, in the win.
Izzy Pugh scored 9 points as Milwaukee lost a see-sawing battle with Robert Morris 56-55.
Waiata Jennings scored a season high 8 points as Baylor won a one sided contest against Texas Southern 101-29.
Men
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones became the 17th New Zealand man to score over 600 NCAA Division I points as he led UC San Diego to an 84-76 win at UC Santa Barbara to open Big West Conference play. Tait-Jones finished with a game high 22 points to go with 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
Tafara Gapare scored a dozen points as Maryland moved to 8-1 with a resounding 83-59 win against Ohio State. Those 12 points carried the Wellingtonian past 300 NCAA Division I career points.
In front of a sell-out crowd of 18,000 a couple of heavyweight teams went head to head and it was #5 Marquette that prevailed 88-74 against #11 Wisconsin (where Kirk Penney is an assistant coach). Ben Gold had 9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a block in the win.
Finn Lally was close to his first Division I double-double as he posted 12 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks in the William & Mary 109-55 victory against Virginia Lynchburg.
Taine Murray scored 8 points on 4 from 5 shooting as Virginia were burnt by Florida 87-69.
Nic Book filled his stats line with 6 points (3/4FG), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal as South Carolina Upstate thumped Brevard 91-60.
LACEY LOWDOWN 