When Emme Shearer steps on court with her University of Portland Pilots team for their West Coast Conference Tournament Semi-Final clash at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday (NZ time) she will be setting a new mark for NCAA Division I games played by a Kiwi – male or female.
Named to the All-West Coast Conference First Team for the second time in as many years after another highly successful season the former Westlake Girls High School and Harbour Basketball standout will be playing her 154th game for the Pilots.
Shearer will pass the previous record held by Wellingtonian Tegan Graham who played 153 games during a five year career that concluded in 2022.
In addition, with 1,604 career points, Shearer sits 4th on the New Zealand all-time scoring list which is littered with current and former Tall Ferns and Tall Blacks (see list below)
Shearer’s exceptional achievements are amongst many notable performances by Kiwis in Division I play this season:
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones
The former St Pat’s College wing is enjoying a sensational season with high flying University of California San Diego. The Tritons have been crowned the Big West Conference Regular Season Champions with Tait-Jones, a strong candidate for Conference Player of the Year, leading their scoring. He has amassed 629 points at 19.7 points per game having scored 20 or more points in 17 of his 32 games. No other Kiwi has ever scored over 600 Division I points in a season – in fact only five have managed to exceed 500 points.
Ben Gold
Gold recently scored a career high 17 points for Marquette University. The Tall Blacks forward, out of Tawa College, now has 519 career points – just the 21st New Zealander to score over 500 points in NCAA Division I men’s basketball. Additionally he recently logged his 100th game thus becoming the 18th Kiwi to make a century of appearances in Men’s Division I play.
Taine Murray and Zach Riley
The duo of former Harbour Basketball reps look as if they will fall just short of matching Gold’s century of appearances. Both are in their final collegiate years and both have logged 94 games to date. Murray has done so at the University of Virginia and Riley at Fordham University in the Bronx. With neither team likely to go deep into post regular season play both players look likely to fall agonizingly short of the century mark.
Mason Whittaker
The former Canterbury Ram and Christ’s College forward is just one game away from The NCAA Tournament after his American University team advanced to the Patriot League Grand Final by upsetting defending champions Colgate 72-62 in a semi-final clash.
Tayla Dalton
After four years at St Mary’s College the Tall Ferns guard shifted north to Gonzaga University for her final collegiate season where she has helped the Zags to a share of the West Coast Conference regular season title. Heading into the final few games of her college career the former Carmel College star has amassed 1,061 points in her 140 career games.
Maia Jones
In her sophomore year at St Mary’s College Jones has received West Coast Conference Honorable Mention for her consistent performances in just her second season with the Gaels. The former Waimea College captain averages a team high 12.2 points per game and is second in both assists (82) and steals (51).
Leah Mafua
Also second in scoring for her team is ex Hutt Valley High guard Leah Mafua who has tallied 351 points at 12.1ppg at the University of Central Arkansas. Mafua leads the team’s assists account with 76 at 2.6apg. UCA are through to Atlantic Sun Tournament semi-finals with Mafua a key cog in their championship bid.
Helen Matthews
Another player to log over 100 collegiate appearances the Wofford College senior has been named to the All-Southern Conference First team. The Cantabrian guard averages 11.1 points per game with a season high 24 points coming against Western Carolina in January.
Ritorya Tamilo
Tall Fern Ritorya Tamilo has made every post a winner in her first year at the University of Hawaii. The former Baradene College forward now owns the Hawaii’s women’s record for blocked shots in a season by a freshman. She has 38 and counting with Hawaii, who also have Rebecca Moors on their team, having claimed the Big West Conference Regular Season Championship.
Olivia Williams
Runners-up in the Big West were University of California Irvine where Olivia Williams has started all 30 games for the ‘Eaters’, scoring 230 points at 7.7ppg.
Lilly Parke
Also out of Baradene College, Lilly Parke has averaged 8.9 points per game for Fairleigh Dickinson University, the Northeast Conference Regular Season Champions. Parke, in her second season at FDU has started in every one of her 60 games and amassed 557 points.
Charlisse Leger-Walker
One Kiwi who is certain to be at the Big Dance, the NCAA Tournament, is Charlisse Leger-Walker after the UCLA Bruins claimed the Big Ten Conference title by beating USC 72-67 in the Championship game. Unfortunately we won’t see the Tall Fern on court as she is still rehabbing the ACL injury she incurred last season.
Top 10 All-Time NCAA Division I Appearances by New Zealand players:
154 Emme Shearer (University of Portland 2020-present)
153 Tegan Graham (Colgate University, 2017-20, Brigham Young 20-22)
145 Kendell Heremaia (Fordham University, 2017-22)
142 Krystal Leger-Walker (Washington State 2020-22/Northern Colorado 2015-18)
142 Tobias Cameron (Abilene Christian University, 2017-23)
140 Tayla Dalton (St Mary’s College, 2020-24, Gonzaga (2024 – present)
137 Kaylee Smiler (Brigham Young University, 2018-2024)
136 Jillian Harmon (Stanford University, 2005-09)
135 Akiene-Tera Reed (Virginia Commonwealth 2017-21, USC 2021-22)
133 Rob Loe (University of St Louis, 2010-14)
Top 10 All-Time NCAA Division I career points by New Zealand players:
1,743 Charlisse Leger-Walker (Washington State 2020-24, UCLA 2024-present)
1,647 Erin Rooney (Monmouth University, 2009-11/Fordham University, 2012-14)
1,624 Akiene-Tera Reed (Virginia Commonwealth 2017-21, USC 2021-22)
1,604 Emme Shearer (University of Portland 2020-present)
1,497 Megan Compain (St Joseph’s University Hawks, 1993-97)
1,454 Kirk Penney (University of Wisconsin, 1999-2003)
1,439 Stella Beck (St Mary’s College, 2014-18)
1,291 Kendell Heremaia (Fordham University, 2017-22)
1,265 Callum McRae (Sacramento State 2022-23, UC Riverside 2018-22)
1,262 Rhaiah Spooner-Knight (Monmouth 17-18, Utah Valley 13-16)
