Lavea One Win From Title
Tagged in: Kiwis Abroad, Tall Ferns
Canterbury’s Donna Lavea will play for an NAIA national championship on Wednesday.
Lavea had nine points (4/6 FG, 1/1 FT), five rebounds and two blocks in 14 minutes as the Lambuth Lady Eagles advanced to their second NAIA-D1 title game in three years, with a 65-63 semifinal win over Oklahoma City University in hometown Jackson, Tennessee, on Tuesday.
Lambuth (29-5), the 2007 NAIA-D1 champions, will meet fierce cross-town rivals and overall number one seeds Union in the championship game, at 1pm (NZ time), which can be followed at: http://naia.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/072108aab.html.
Lavea, a 1.90m (6ft 3in) junior from Christchurch, was pivotal as the Lady Eagles escaped the second round with a 73-70 win over Azusa Pacific on Friday.
Lavea had 14 points (5/8 FG, 4/6 FT), 12 rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 21 minutes in the win, which followed on from eight points (4/4 FG, 0/2 FT), four boards, a steal and block in 12 minutes in the team’s 82-59 first round romp over William Jewell, of Missouri, on Thursday.
She also went scoreless (0/3 FG) with five rebounds and two blocks in seven minutes in a 66-54 quarterfinal win over University of the Cumberlands, of Kentucky, on Saturday.
Also still alive for a national championship in the NCAA Tournament is Tall Ferns forward Jillian Harmon, with Stanford.
Harmon posted 12 points (6/11 FG), two boards, two assists and two blocks in 36 minutes as the Cardinal (31-4) rolled to a 77-49 second round win over San Diego State on Tuesday to move into the Sweet Sixteen.
The 1.85m (6ft 1in) senior also had nine points (4/8 FG, 1/1 FT), four assists and three rebounds in 24 minutes in a 74-39 blow-out of UC-Santa Barbara in the first round in San Diego on Saturday.
Harmon and the Cardinal, the number two-ranked team in the country, reached the championship game last season, eventually falling to Tennesse, who were knocked out in the first round of this year’s tournament by Ball State.
Stanford, a two seed, now face third-seeded Ohio State in the Berkeley region semifinals on Saturday (NZ time) for a place in the Elite Eight.
Across the Tasman, Tall Ferns forward Lisa Wallbutton put up a big double-double with 22 points and 16 rebounds as the the Albury Wodonga Lady Bandits, coached by Tall Ferns video technician Kennedy Hamilton and including former Tall Fern Toni Edmondson, fell 76-54 at home to Bendigo Lady Braves in round two of the SEABL on Saturday.
Wallbutton shot 9-of-17 from the field, including 1-of-3 on three-balls, and 3-of-4 from the foul-line, adding four assists and two steals in 37 minutes of action. Edmondson finished with five points (1/16 FG, 0/5 3pt, 3/3 FT), with seven boards, three assists and two blocks in 35 minutes, as Albury fell to 0-2.
Kiwi Gemma Kerr managed three points (1/13 FG, 1/7 3pt), eight assists, three boards, two steals and two blocks in 31 minutes as the defending champion Kilsyth Lady Cobras picked up a 71-61 road win over the Ballarat Lady Miners on Sunday in the SEABL.
