Basketball New Zealand

Tall Fern Jillian Harmon and the Stanford Cardinal head into the women's NCAA Tournament with a 16-game win streak

Tall Ferns forward Jillian Harmon and Stanford University will ride a 16-game winning streak into the Women’s NCAA Tournament later this week.

Harmon and the Cardinal, who fell in the NCAA championship game last season, missed out on a number seed for the tournament but will open their quest for the national title on Saturday as a number two seed against UC-Santa Barbara in the Berkeley Region.

Harmon had a pair of double-digit scoring games as Stanford cruised to their second straight Pac-10 tournament title on Sunday, beating USC 89-64 in the final in Los Angeles.

The 21-year-old senior had 11 points (4/6 FG, 1/1 3pt, 2/2 FT), three rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes in a 77-46 quarterfinal win over Arizona on Friday; 10 points (4/10 FG, 2/3 3pt, 0/2 FT), five assists, four rebounds and a steal in 23 minutes in a 73-47 semifinal win over UCLA on Saturday and seven points (3/10 FG, 1/3 3pt, 0/1 FT), eight boards, five assists, two steals and a block in 30 minutes in the final.

Harmon was given the defensive assignment on USC point guard Camille LeNoir, holding her scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting in the first half and to 13 points for the game.

The Cardinal (29-4, 17-1) go into the national tournament as the number-two ranked team in the country and are heavily favoured to progress deep into the bracket, with a possible Elite Eight match-up with number one seed Duke.

Closer to home, former Tall Ferns guard Lisa Pardon and the Bulleen Boomers could not produce the monster upset in the Australian Women’s National Basketball League grand final on Friday.

Pardon, who had the best three-point percentage in the league during the regular season, had three points (1/1 FG, 1/1 3pt) and a rebound in 12 minutes as the Boomers fell 61-58 at AIS Arena to the regular season champion Canberra Capitals.

A pair of Tall Ferns, Lisa Wallbutton and Toni Edmondson, made their debuts for the Albury-Wadonga Lady Bandits, coached by Tall Ferns video technician Ken Kereama, in the South East Australia Basketball League (SEABL), falling 69-66 in overtime on the road to the Brisbane Lady Spartans.

Wallbutton produced 16 points (6/16 FG, 0/1 3pt, 4/6 FT), eight rebounds, two assists and a block in 41 minutes and Edmondson 11 points (4/14 FG, 0/1 3pt, 3/4 FT), four boards, three assists and a steal in 35 minutes in the loss.

In Melbourne, Gemma Kerr, younger sister of Tall Ferns captain Aneka Kerr, also started the SEABL season with a road loss, her Kilsyth Lady Cobras falling 82-67 to the Bendigo Lady Braves on Saturday.

Kerr dropped 17 points (5/13 FG, 2/7 3pt, 5/6 FT), six rebounds and two assists in 33 minutes for the defending SEABL women’s champs.
Back in the States, last week saw college seasons end for Tall Ferns guard Micaela Cocks and Emerging Tall Ferns Kezia Kelly, Rebecca Dew and Kim Barnes.

Cocks had 13 points (4/13 FG, 1/5 3pt, 4/4 FT), four rebounds and two assists in 40 minutes for the Oregon Ducks in a 69-43 loss to Washington in the first round of the Pac-10 tournament on Thursday, finishing 9-21 overall and 5-13 in the conference.

Kelly did not play as her Washington State Cougars fell in the first round of the Pac-10 tourney.

Dew scored four points (2/3 FG) with three rebounds, an assist and steal in nine minutes as her University of Hawaii team defeated San Jose State in the first round of the WAC tournament early last week, then had two points (1/2 FG) and a rebound in five minutes in Hawaii’s 65-50 loss to Fresno State in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, leaving the Rainbow Wahine 8-23 overall and 4-12 in the WAC.

Barnes put up four points (1/5 FG, 2/4 FT), two boards and a block in 31 minutes as her UC-Irvine squad went out in the first round of the Big West tournament, losing 61-43 to Cal State-Fullerton on Wednesday. The Anteaters went 7-23 overall and 4-12 in-conference.

The season still remains alive for another Kiwi, with Canterbury’s Donna Lavea and her nationally number three-ranked Lambuth Lady Eagles opening the NAIA-D1 tournament at home in Jackson, Tennessee, against William Jewell, of Missouri, on Thursday.