Basketball New Zealand

Lisa Pardon (Photosport)

Former Tall Ferns guard Lisa Pardon and her Bulleen Boomers club may not lead the Australian Women’s National Basketball League but they are no doubt the hottest.

The Boomers continued their rise up the WNBL standings, moving to second behind the Canberra Capitals after their eighth straight win, a 105-72 road rout of the Perth Lynx in Kalgoorlie on Saturday in round 17.

Pardon had nine points (3/6 FG, 2/3 3pt, 1/2 FT) and two assists in 22 minutes as Bulleen improved to 16-4.

Bulleen’s unbeaten record since November 29 will be seriously tested in the final two rounds of the regular season, facing Tall Ferns point guard Angela Marino and the defending champion Adelaide Lightning on the road on Saturday, before hosting the Townsville Fire on February 21.

While the Boomers have climbed the standings, Marino and the Lightning have been in freefall, losing four of their last five, including a road double-header last week, to drop back to fourth at 13-7.

Marino scored 15 points (5/13 FG, 2/6 3pt, 3/5 FT), three rebounds, three assists and a steal in 36 minutes in Adelaide’s 75-70 loss to the Logan Thunder on Friday, and nine points (2/11 FG, 1/4 3pt, 4/6 FT), three boards, two steals and an assist in 33 minutes in a 93-55 result against Townsville the following night.

Tall Ferns forward Natalie Purcell produced 14 points (5/11 FG, 4/7 3pt) and a rebound, assist and block in 37 minutes for the Thunder.

National team captain Aneka Kerr had nine points (3/10 FG, 3/5 FT) and five rebounds in 21 minutes and team-mate Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe went scoreless (0/1 FG) and an assist in six minutes for Townsville, who improved to third at 15-4.

Tall Ferns forward Jillian Harmon scored 10 points (4/6 FG, 2/3 FT), adding two assists and a rebound in 24 minutes as her Stanford University knocked over Washington 76-54 on Sunday. The Cardinal improved to 19-4 for the season and 10-1 in the Pac-10 conference.

TFs shooting guard Micaela Cocks had 12 points (4/14 FG, 2/10 3pt, 2/2 FT), three rebounds, two assists, a block and steal in 39 minutes in the Oregon Ducks 68-44 road loss to Arizona on Saturday, leaving Oregon at 8-14, and 4-7 in the Pac-10.

Also in the Pac-10, Harbour guard Kezia Kelly went for two points (1/1 FG) in eight minutes in Washington State’s 77-57 home loss to leaders California on Sunday.

Out in the Islands, former Tall Fern Rebecca Dew scored seven points (3/4 FG, 1/1 FT) and pulled down three rebounds in 12 minutes in Hawaii’s 64-48 home win over San Jose State on Friday. It was the Rainbow Wahine’s second win in three games, after winning just three in their first 19 games.

South Auckland junior Kim Barnes notched two points (1/3 FG), eight rebounds, a block and steal in 34 minutes in UC-Irvine’s 51-38 road loss to rivals UC-Santa Barbara on Saturday.

In Tennessee, Hailey Purcell went pointless with a rebound and assist in 10 minutes in UT-Martin’s 89-53 road loss to Tennessee State on Saturday in Nashville. The Skyhawks continue to struggle, now 2-20 overall and 0-11 in the Ohio Valley conference.

In NCAA-D2 play, Waikato’s Alana Auld amassed 13 points (4/10 FG, 0/3 3pt, 5/7 FT), five assists, four rebounds and four steals in 25 minutes as Ohio Valley University fell 93-66 at home to Glenville State on Monday, leaving the Lady Fighting Scots just 4-10 in conference.

Harbour guard Amanda Harris enjoyed another win with Alderson Broaddus in West Virginia, beat Wheeling Jesuit 63-50 on the road on Monday, the fourth straight for the Lady Battlers.

Assistant coaches Pina Lissaman and Warrick Wood saw their NCAA-D3 Rose-Hulman Tech Lady Engineers fall 59-50 to Transylvania University at home on Saturday, dropping to 6-14 for the season and 3-10 in the Heartland conference. Former Canterbury coach Caleb Harrison also saw his South Dakota Lady Ts fall twice last week.

In NAIA play, Canterbury’s Donna Lavea produced six points (3/6 FG), five boards and a steal in 10 minutes as Lambuth University, number three in the NAIA-D1 rankings, defeated Bethel College 65-54 on Saturday, improving to 18-4.