Huskies Hurt Harmon
Tagged in: Kiwis Abroad, Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns
Tall Ferns forward Jillian Harmon saw first-hand on Monday the power of the University of Connecticut.
Harmon scored two points (1/5 FG, 0/2 FT), with two rebounds, an assist and steal in 25 minutes as her Stanford Cardinal were rolled 83-64 in the Women’s NCAA Final Four in St Louis, Missouri.
Riding a 20-game winning streak coming into the national semifinals, Stanford were taken apart by the number-one ranked Huskies, who have won 38 straight games this year and get the chance to complete a perfect season on Wednesday in the championship game against Louisville.
Stanford remained in the game mid-way through the first period, up 14-13, until an 18-4 run over the next five minutes saw them fall behind by 13, a gap they never reduced. Connecticut led by as many as 29 points in the second half, never letting up.
The game brought down the curtain on Harmon’s collegiate career. Earlier this season, she became the 29th Stanford player to reach 1000 career points and reached two Final Fours with the Cardinal.
Also seeing his season come to an end was former Tall Black Brendon Polyblank, who scored 25 points as his Lausanne club fell 88-62 to top-seeded SAV Vacallo on the road in game three of their best-of-five quarterfinal series to be swept out of the Swiss LNA playoffs.
Wellington Saints forward Leon Henry and former Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin move into the Romania Divizia A playoffs next week.
Henry had six points (2/3 FG, 2/2 3pt) and two rebounds in 13 minutes for U Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca in a 79-72 road loss to CS Gaz Metan Medias to complete the regular season on Sunday.
The loss was costly for Cluj, who dropped from third to fifth at 19-9, surrendering home court advantage for their quarterfinal series against CSU Atlassib Sibiu, starting April 16.
Elsewhere in Europe, there were wins for Tall Blacks centre Craig Bradshaw, former Tall Blacks point guard Mark Dickel and Harbour Heat forward BJ Anthony.
Bradshaw scored 13 points (5/5 FG, 3/5 FT), with four boards and a block in 15 minutes in Grupo Begar Leon’s 85-73 road win over Union Baloncesto La Palma in round 27 of the LEB Gold in Spain on Saturday. The win lifted Leon back into the top-eight at 14-13.
Anthony had a team-high 17 points (4/10 FG, 9/14 FT), six rebounds, two blocks and an assist in 29 minutes in Herzoge Wolfenbuttel’s 71-68 road win over Telemotive Munchen in round 27 of the Bundesliga D2-Pro B on Sunday, keeping them second at 21-6.
Dickel provided five points (1/3 FG, 1/2 3pt, 2/4 FT), four assists, a rebound and steal in 30 minutes in AS Trikalla’s 93-88 home win over Panellinios Athens in round 23 of the A1 League in Greece on Sunday. It was just Trikalla’s fifth win of the season.
Tall Blacks head coach Nenad Vucinic saw his BC Kalev/Cramo team fall 90-77 in a cross-town Estonian KML game against TTU-KK on Saturday. Kalev remained second but dropped to five games behind leaders TU/Rock, who they meet on Tuesday.
In Australia, Gemma Kerr scored five points (2/14 FG, 1/8 3pt), with four boards, two assists, a steal and block in 32 minutes, while younger sister Tania Kerr went scoreless (0/3 FG, 0/2 3pt) in 12 minutes for the Kilsyth Lady Cobras in a 67-62 home loss to the Launceston Tornadoes on Sunday in round four of the South East Australia Basketball League (SEABL). The Cobras, the defending SEABL champs, now sit 1-3.
Also in Victoria, Junior Tall Blacks contender Te Puao Silver had a point (0/2 FG, 1/2 FT), two rebounds and two assists in nine minutes for the Melbourne Tigers in a 110-66 rout of Ringwood in round three of the Big V Youth League on Sunday, keeping them unbeaten at 4-0.
