Following a hectic weekend of NCAA Division I basketball, the only certainty – from a New Zealand perspective – is that we will have at least one New Zealander at the NCAA National Championships.
New Mexico State University Aggies are the Western Athletic Conference Champions after defeating Abilene Christian 66-52 in the Championship game.
The result means that Yuat Alok is the first Kiwi to be declared a starter at next week’s NCAA Tournament. The former Rangitoto College standout scored 2 points for the Aggies while Tobias Cameron had 4 points and a team high 5 rebounds for Abilene in a losing effort.
For long periods of the Atlantic 10 Tournament Final, it appeared that Davidson College would be the victors – thus handing Sam Mennenga a passage to the Big Dance. But Davidson were eventually pipped 64-62 by Richmond, despite an outstanding display from the former Harbour and Westlake Boys standout who scored a team high 18 points – making 5 from 8 field goals including all 4 of his three-point attempts, plus 4 from 4 from the foul line.
That now means Mennenga, like a host of fellow Kiwis, must wait to see if his university are amongst the 36 teams that are added to the 32 conference winners to make up the draw for both the Men’s and Women’s National Championships.
Also enduring a nervous wait for the decision of the Selection Committee will be the likes of Lauryn Mapusua (Houston Baptist), Krystal and Charlisse Leger-Walker (Washington State), Olivia Williams (UC Irvine) and Charlotte Whittaker (Colorado).
Less stressed will be the BYU trio of Tegan Graham, Kaylee Smiler and Arielle Mackey-Williams. BYU were runners-up to Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Tournament, after winning the regular season trophy, and also hold a top-20 national ranking so their inclusion is a banker.
On the men’s side, St Mary’s California (Dan Fotu and Quinn Clinton) should be sleeping easy – as like BYU Women they were WCC runners-up and hold a high national ranking.
Equally confident will be Miami (Sam Waardenburg) after a strong season and a top-4 finish in the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference.
A little more nervy will be Colorado State (James Moors), Abilene Christian (Tobias Cameron) and Texas Christian (Harrison Young).
Over the weekend Miami University, having caused one of the upsets of the season when they defeated Number 1 ranked Duke in Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season play couldn’t quite repeat the feat at the ACC semi-finals beaten 80-76 by the Blue Devils. Sam Waardenburg was once again in fine form with 8 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds and a couple of blocks in the defeat.
In Women’s NCAA Division I action #2 seed UC Irvine had to settle for runners-up spot at the Big West Conference Tournament after being defeated 59-48 in the Grand Final by top seed Hawaii. Freshman guard Olivia Williams had a pair of rebounds in that contest.
NCAA Division II National Championships
Dallas Baptist University returned to the NCAA Division II National Championships for the fifth straight year but had to take on Black Hills State without centre William Heather. The former Rosmini College National Championship winner has had to undergo surgery for a lingering back injury. DBU struggled without their influential big man and were defeated 76-68.
Former Harbour guard Hannah Wentworth was New Zealand’s sole representative at the Women’s NCAA Division II National Championships – but she and her Eckerd College teammates couldn’t repeat the heroics of their first round victory against Florida Southern. Wentworth made 4 from 5 from deep on her way to 15 points in that one, but ultimately came up short in the 73-48 second round loss to Union University making 9 points plus 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
NAIA National Championships
Following a first round win against Teinhardt University, Rocky Mountain College pulled away from Dakota State to win their second round tie 89-73 at the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) Women’s Basketball National Championship. Dominique Stephens finished with 5 points, 3 offensive rebounds, a block and a steal for Rocky – who now advance to the Round of 16.
Junior College
Later in the week our Kiwi contingent at the Junior College National Championships will begin their quest for glory.
Former Mt Albert Grammar standout Nate Wilson (Georgia Tech) is the sole Kiwi in the Men’s draw. Representation is stronger at the Women’s Tournament with Casper College (Dejaan Schuler), Western Nebraska (Rashaan Smith and Izzy Cook) and Southern Idaho (Ashlee Strawbridge and Kyra Paniora) all capable of deep runs in a championship bid.
Canadian Universities
Also later in the week we will be keeping an eye on the deeds of Sofia Kennedy as the University of Windsor Lancers begin play-off basketball in Ontario, Canada. The Lancers rounded out the regular season with an 82-50 victory over Algoma University. Kennedy, the Lancers co-captain, added 9 points to 4 assists and 3 rebounds.
