Hoops

NCAA Aussie Women: 2016/17

Kiwi Kalani Purcell picked up by Dallas wings

With six members of last season’s All-Australian teams either graduating or sitting out this season due to transfers, there were plenty of spots open for this season’s selections. The underclassmen featured heavily, with three freshmen and five sophomores among the 15 players selected. However, it was the junior class that shone brightest, landing three players in the All-Australian first team and an astonishing seven selections overall.

NCAA Women: 2017 All-Australian Awards

The NCAA signing period opened on April 12th and already four Aussies have made their commitments official.

We take a quick look at Isaac White who committed to Stanford, Mayan Kiir who signed with LSU, and Tom Pupavac and Kyle Zunic who are set to join Winthrop.

White, Kiir, Pupavac and Zunic make their commitments

The first two rounds of the women’s NCAA Tournament are in the books, and it has been a reasonably successful week for the Australians involved. Three have fallen by the wayside, but another three teams featuring a total of five Australians remain in the hunt for a championship, with Kristy Wallace, Alanna Smith, and the Oregon trio of Jacinta Vandenberg, Morgan Yaeger and Megan Trinder all still in the mix.

NCAA Women: Five Aussies dance into Sweet 16

The college basketball season has reached the pointy end, and that means it’s time for the big dance – the NCAA Tournament. With two Aussie women starring for sides with a real shot at making the Final Four and others featuring on some danger teams, there is plenty to watch for Aussie basketball fans over the next few weeks.

Aussies most likely to star in March Madness

Buffalo currently playing in MAC quarterfinals now. Leading early too.

what is buffalos current situation regarding the ncaa tournament are they in contention ?

Still in the tournament.

She was big for Baylor. Did not get enough support.

Lady Bears lose.
Wallace can hold her head high though. 17 points, 9 boards & 5 assists in the championship game.

Not a good time for Wallace to lose it and get a tech :/

Baylor trying to dig their way out of a 21 point hole. Got it back to 7, Wallace playing a big game, but it looks like they're going to blow it.

Australian sophomore Alanna Smith has led Stanford’s charge to the Pac-12 title, top scoring with 18 points in the Cardinal’s 48-43 win over top seed Oregon State. The forward out of Melbourne also finished with four blocks as the Stanford defense stymied Oregon State throughout the final three quarters after giving up 22 points in the opening term.

Smith leads Stanford to Pac-12 success

It was a case of Aussies teaming up to help get their teams over the line this week, as Buffalo, Southern Methodist, and Saint Mary’s all saw solid performances from multiple Australians. However, it was Utah State’s quartet of Rachel Brewster, Eliza West, Olivia West, and Shannon Dufficy that shone brightest. The Australian foursome were among the team’s best in both games this weekend, leading the Aggies to a pair of wins, including a history-making win over Boise State.

NCAA Women: Utah State’s Aussie foursome dominate in Aggies’ wins

An outstanding week for many Australians was perhaps highlighted by an Australia Day clash between a Wake Forest side featuring Alex Sharp and Boston College’s Australian pairing of Georgia Pineau and Taylor Ortlepp. Elsewhere, Buffalo’s Stephanie Reid finished the week with enough dimes to fill a piggy bank, while Courtney West set a Portland State school record for blocks in a game.

NCAA Women: Stephanie Reid delivers for Buffalo

A week that saw a few teams break some losing streaks that were threatening to derail their seasons also saw Australians stand up at the most important times. Chief among these were Alicia Froling, Stephanie Reid, and Grace Lennox, but there were outstanding performances even in teams that weren’t able to win both games this week.

In a week that saw Portland State split their Montana road trip, Courtney West stood taller than most, both literally and figuratively.

NCAA Women: Courtney West stands tall for Portland State

ough week for Australians results-wise, there were still several performances worthy of mentioning this week. Alicia Froling played an almost lone hand for SMU against the might of UConn, whilst Geraldine McCorkell almost dragged Idaho to a pair of wins despite limited assistance. Elsewhere, Madeleine Dennis was given a rare opportunity to shine, and Grace Lennox continued to lead for Eastern Illinois.

NCAA Women: McCorkell stars for Idaho, Froling valiant against UConn

What an eventful week for the Australians in women’s college basketball, with everything from career-high scoring efforts to players being ejected as 2017 started with a bang. Alicia Froling continued to rack up double-doubles, whilst Grace Lennox continued her emergence as Eastern Illinois’ top scoring threat, averaging over 30 points per game for the week. On the west coast, Carly Turner was clutch for Saint Mary’s as the Gaels secured a nail-biting win.

NCAA Women: Turner stars for Gaels, Lennox puts up 30

The final full week of play before Christmas saw a number of Australians provide their teams with some early presents to lead their teams to victory. In particular, Jess Gajewski, Vanessa Panousis, Carly Turner, and Rachel Brewster produced crucial performances to lead their respective teams to victory.

NCAA Women: Gajewski, Panousis pull out Christmas crackers

With many teams taking a week off as final exams take precedence across the nation, the opportunity came for some different faces to make a name for themselves among the Australians. The likes of Anais Kirvan, Lizzy Tonks, and Megan Johnson put up some solid performances, whilst Alex Delaney fired on offence for a massive game for the second time in just a few weeks.

NCAA Women: Delaney explodes, freshmen fire

A quite spectacular week for the Australians in women’s college basketball has seen two players pick up early season tournament MVP awards, with a further raft of players picking up all-tournament selections as several teams took the opportunity to pack an extra game into the weekend.

NCAA Women: West and Wallace pick up MVPs

Following a scholarship offer from Saint Mary’s over 12 months ago, recent New South Wales Under 20s selection Milly Yates has recently made a verbal commitment to play for the Gaels from 2018.

The Pick and Roll caught up with Yates to gain some insight into her decision.

Milly Yates commits her heart to Saint Mary’s

It was quite the week for Australian women in college as a pair of upperclassmen produced career highs in scoring, whilst we also saw a number of freshmen come out of their shells to turn out the first big performances of their college careers. Meanwhile, the likes of Rachel Brewster and Alicia Froling continue to produce for their teams at astounding rates.

NCAA Women: McCorkell and Delaney hit career highs

Whilst there has been plenty of hype around this year’s Aussie freshman class, the more experienced players ensured they would not be forgotten as the likes of Claire Ioannidis and Carly Turner put up massive numbers on the opening weekend of the new college season.

NCAA Women: Ioannidis helps Ospreys fly

The 2016/17 NCAA Division I season features many highly talented returning Australians this season, with seven of last season’s top 10 Australians back again for this season. Combined with a stacked freshman class, there are now close to 70 Australian women plying their trade in NCAA Division I, many of whom are amongst the leaders of their respective teams.

We preview the Top 10 Australian women who are set to have the most impact on their teams in 2016/17.

NCAA Women: Aussie preseason Top 10

The number of Australians in NCAA women's basketball continues to increase, with over 20 freshmen making their way across the Pacific to begin their college careers.

A number of members of the 2014 Sapphires team that finished fifth at the World Championships are part of this year’s freshman class, and these players make up the majority of the season’s preseason Top 5 incoming freshmen.

NCAA Women: 2016 Top 5 Australian freshmen

An Australian Under 19 representative both before and during her college career, Kristy Wallace has emerged as one of the leading Australians in NCAA women’s basketball during her two years with Baylor.

Kristy Wallace: Taking the lead at Baylor

“I think now that I’m a bit older, that I’m a junior now, that I’ll be able to take more of a leadership role. I’m very critical of myself so I think I need to work on everything – my handles, my shooting. But I’m looking forward to a new year, and I’m looking forward to the season.”

Oops

Molly is not on the roster for this season at Saint Mary's (as per website) - so not sure there.

He was the news on Keely Froling: Keely Froling departs SMU, heads home to Australia

He is a story on Nakkasoglu that touches on her transfer but training with Turkish squad: Turkish delight as Funda Nakkasoglu switches allegiance

Story would be good - I agree. Always hard to get comment. I did this article on the men who transferred/left college last season if you wanted some insights: NCAA Men: McKay one of six Aussies transferring

McPhee decided not to play for St Mary's?

The other Froling twin also left SMU, but one stayed, can't remember which one,
Lots transfer between schools and then red shirt , Funda is one, she's gone from a low grade div1 to a middle grade Div1 but will sit out this year, trouble with that is if they bring in and over recruit her position she may well go from being a main starter to a bench with limited minutes in her final years, it's a gamble.
But she could also have moved for academic reasons. Their was an article where she said that the coaching staff at Utah expected a lot from her....moving to a higher level school isn't going to reduce that unless your going to be a bench player and even then the higher you go the more pressure is on them as its coaches jobs on the line, they don't care about the student.

Many reasons kids decide college isn't fir them, and it's often not basketball related , Google some names , this one came up on mine
http://pakenham.starcommunity.com.au/gazette/2016-06-13/rachel-has-no-regrets/

Seems the grass was not greener on the otherside, which for someone who had great opportunities already here is not surprising,
I know Allitay had been injured fir most of her college time, being away from family and not having that family support whilst injured can be hard, mentally it's tough for anyone to miss out on what they love due to injury

The women's competition itself in USA college is weak compared to the men's, even in the upper levels, really only a few teams would compete with our SEABL and in some cases BigV champ teams, most are like a Div1/2 Big v but at youth league age level.

Sometimes life style plays a part , sometime academic opportunities, so I don't think you would find one common theme that brings players out of college and back to Australia.

LC what would be the reasons for them leaving, that may be a good story in itself.

You guys do some great stories by the way, love the Pick 'n Roll.

Penney scored 9points in just over 16minutes on 4-9 shooting from the field and 1-2 from 3pt land 3personal fouls and 2rebounds despite apparently looking fairly nervous.
Most blogs regarding the game coming out of San Antonio speak highly of Penney and many writers refer to him as having a Ginobli type style.

One Blogger posted this comment:

Speaking of, "Good for you," how about Kirk "1c" Penney? He wasn't incredibly flashy all the time, but he had his moments. LatinD suggested he looked very similarly to Manu. Oh the haters hated! Then 1c drove to the lane and the people who scoffed at the foreigner rescinded their comments. Penney shot 4-9 FG scoring 9 pts which included a three. David and I are strong supporters of the Copper Man. Maybe he'll earn a spot on the roster.


Lets hope he gets his shot