Taine Murray, on 5 from 6 shooting, scored a season high 12 points as Virginia triumphed 77-53 over Atlantic Coast Conference rivals Louisville in NCAA Division I play.

In Women’s Division I hoops Tayla Dalton top scored for St Mary’s California Gaels with 13 points (6/9FG) to compliment 6 assists but the Gaels dropped their West Coast Conference opener against Pacific 60-57.

NCAA Division II

Tessa Talo-Tomokino top scored with 14 points, and also claimed 7 rebounds, for Northeastern State in their narrow 71-69 loss to Northwest Missouri.

Jess Moors (3 points) passed 100 points for the season as Nova Southeastern had a notable win, defeating #20 Tampa 73-66 to improve to 5-1 in Sunshine State Conference play. 

Sean Murphy topped the Nebraska Kearney scoring with 13, and added 4 assists, in a 90-67 loss to Lincoln.

Kiani Saxon also tallied 13 points as Missouri Western State defeated Rogers State 90-83 with Kiani passing the 100 points mark for the season at 8.5ppg. Kiani followed that with 10 points as Missouri Western advanced to an overall 11-3 record with a 73-55 win against Northeastern State.

Junior College

Zaaliyah Kailahi-Fulu went close to a double-double on both occasions as Chipola College (ranked Top-20 in the nation) gained a pair of wins to improve their season record to an impressive 16-2. In the 70-31 defeat of Enterprise State Chipola’s leading rebounder had 10 points and 7 rebounds and followed that with 9 points and 10 rebounds in the far closer 64-61 win against Mississippi Gulf.

Qaizdon Stephano pushed her season points tally past 200 with 8 points as Gillette College proved too sharp for United Tribes Tech winning 64-58 with Gillette now 11-7 this season.

Many congratulations to Under 19 representative Maya Fowler on obtaining a scholarship at Collin College in Texas beginning later this year. Maya will be joining a strong programme with Collin College currently ranked #2 amongst all the Junior College women’s teams in the USA.

Pro Ranks

Tai Webster returned to Auckland to haunt his former club as Perth Wildcats outlasted the Breakers 108-102 at Spark Arena on Sunday. Tai, a former Harbour and Westlake star finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.

Also in the Australian NBL Sam Mennenga threatened a double-double as Cairns Taipans came up empty handed in their visit to Tasmania. Cairns were beaten 103-86 by the Tasmanian Jack Jumpers with Sam adding 8 rebounds to 9 points.

Yanni Wetzell also landed 9 points as ALBA Berlin were handed a 97-77 loss by Bamberg in the German League. The scoreline was something of a surprise given Berlin were a top six team with an 8-3 record and Bamberg were mid table with five wins and nine defeats.

Isaac Fotu enjoyed a fine double over the weekend as Tochigi Brex recorded a pair of wins against Osaka. He had 16 points, on 8 from 9 shooting in the 98-82 win and 14 points in a more leisurely 81-53 triumph.