In this week’s Wrap we report on a collegiate career high performance from Emme Shearer and season best efforts from Parahuia Delamere and Marvin Williams-Dunn but firstly we have news from the Tall Ferns camp.

Akiene Tera Reed warmed up nicely for the Tall Ferns upcoming Olympic Qualifying Tournament campaign as she scored a game high 21 points for Melbourne Boomers as they were beaten 80-70 by cross-city rivals Bendigo Spirit in their Australian Women’s National Basketball League clash.

Tera is now in China, along with Tayla Dalton and the other New Zealand team members, preparing for the three games that will determine their Olympic aspirations.

The Tall Ferns face China (Friday 9 February at midnight), Puerto Rico (Saturday 10 February at midnight) and France (Sunday 11 February at 9.30pm) with all games being shown live on TVNZ+.

NCAA Division I

Having equalled her career high of 21 points last week Emme Shearer set a new mark as Portland (7-2) beat Pacific 85-72 to move to outright second on the West Coast Conference ladder. Emme scored 23 points, to accompany 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks in the win. 

We omitted to report last week that Tom Beattie, in his freshman year at the University of Hawaii - made the starting five for the Rainbow Warriors in their 83-73 win over Cal Poly. Tom scored 5 points in his first start.

NCAA Division II

In Sunshine Coast Conference play Hannah Wentworth made 6 from 7 three-point attempts for 18 points as Eckerd beat Florida Southern on the road 81-66.

Hannah was then involved in a double-overtime clash with Jess Moors and table topping Nova Southeastern. Hannah and Jess scored 8 points apiece as Nova Southeastern edged home 80-72.

Tessa Talo-Tomokino scored a dozen points and dished 5 assists as Northeastern State accounted for Emporia State 81-61.

Parahuia Delamere dished a season high 5 assists to compliment 9 points as Young Harris bettered Lees-McRae 86-54.

Sean Murphy led the scoring (14 points) and rebounding (8) for Nebraska Kearney but the Lopers were mauled 105-53 by Northwest Missouri State. With his 14 points Sean passed 200 points for the season and is now just 8 shy of 400 career points. He got 2 points closer to 400 in the 72-60 loss to Missouri Western with Kiani Saxon scoring 10 points for the victors.

Marvin Williams-Dunn scored a season best 10 points as Ouachita Baptist were downed 71-64 by Oklahoma Baptist.

Junior College

Boston Caldwell scored a game high 24 points, making 4 from 9 threes as Central Maine lost a tight one to NHIT (86-84).

Qaizdon Stephano scored 9 points as Gillette College went down 63-59 at Northwest College.

Zaaliyah Kailahi-Fulu posted 8 points and 5 rebounds in Chipola College’s 81-64 loss at the hands of Pensacola State.

Professional Players

Isaac Fotu and his club Tochigi Brex enjoyed a good weekend. Brex posted a brace of wins against FE Nagoya to improve their record to 29-7. Isaac posted almost identical numbers in both games – with 21 points in game one followed by 20 points a day later. On both occasions he shot 9 from 12 from the field.

Yanni Wetzell scored 14 points for ALBA Berlin as they defeated Ulm in their German League encounter – ALBA, with an 11-5 record currently sit 8^th on the Bundesliga table.

Four times Sal’s NBL Championship winner Corey Webster will be back playing at Eventfinda Stadium on a regular basis for the first time in a number of years. Corey has signed on for Auckland Tuatara for the 2024 season.