Basketball New Zealand

Former Tall Fern Lisa Pardon scored 17 points in 16 minutes as the Bulleen Boomers upset the Adelaide Lightning (Photosport)

With help from former Tall Ferns guard Lisa Pardon, the Bulleen Boomers continue to prove they can hang with the big three in the Australian Women’s National Basketball League.

Pardon scored 17 points in just 16 minutes of court time as the Boomers handed the ailing defending champion Adelaide Lightning their second loss of the season, 89-79 in round 10, in North Melbourne on Sunday.

Pardon, a Tall Fern in 2000 and 2006-07, shot 5-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-4 triples, and went a perfect 4-of-4 from the foul-line, adding two assists as the Boomers beat Adelaide for the second time this season.

The Lightning were understrength, backing up from a 63-62 road win over the Dandenong Rangers on Saturday, after a gastro bug swept through the team during the week, affecting current Tall Ferns point guard Angela Marino and leading scorer Tracey Gahan.

Marino produced 12 points (3/7 FG, 2/4 3pt, 4/6 FT) and two assists in 29 minutes against Bulleen, and six points (1/6 FG, 1/6 3pt, 3/4 FT), two assists, a steal and rebound in 33 minutes versus Dandenong.

The win lifted Pardon and the Boomers to 9-4 and fourth, just two games back of the current leading Canberra Capitals, while Adelaide remain second at 10-2, a half-game off the top.

Splitting their Nation’s Capital double-header, Tall Ferns captain Aneka Kerr, national team-mate Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe and the Townsville Fire slipped to third, falling 76-54 to the Capitals on Friday and routing AIS 80-52 on Saturday.

Kerr had eight points (2/8 FG, 4/5 FT), seven rebounds and a steal in 23 minutes and McMeeken-Ruscoe eight points (2/6 FG, 2/6 3pt, 2/2 FT), two rebounds and a steal in 20 minutes against Canberra, while Kerr racked up 15 points (7/10 FG, 1/1 FT), six boards and a block in 22 minutes and McMeeken-Ruscoe two points (0/3 FG, 0/2 3pt, 2/2 FT) and a rebound in 12 minutes in the AIS game.

Tall Ferns forward Natalie Purcell produced two seven-point games but could not stop the rot for her Logan Thunder team in a road double-header, going down 77-55 to the Bendigo Spirit on Friday and 64-61 to the Sydney Flames on Saturday.

Purcell had seven points (3/10 FG, 1/5 3pt), four boards and an assist in 27 minutes in Bendigo and seven points (2/13 FG, 1/6 3pt, 2/4 FT), four rebounds and two assists in 36 minutes against the Flames.

Former Tall Fern Adrianne Gilbert produced four assist and three rebounds in 14 minutes in the win for Sydney.

In Europe, Tall Ferns forward Lisa Wallbutton had two rebounds in 16 minutes as her Dexia Namur club remained undefeated at 9-0 in the Belguim division one league with an 89-81 win over Blue Cats Ieper on Sunday.

Crossing The Pond, Tall Ferns guard Micaela Cocks scored 11 points (3/11 FG, 1/7 3pt, 4/4 FT) with seven rebounds and a steal in 40 minutes but her Oregon Ducks squad fell 60-52 to Montana at home on Saturday.

Harbour guard Kezia Kelly managed five points (2/5 FG, 1/2 FT), two rebounds and an assist in 13 minutes in Washington State’s 68-50 home win over Long Beach State on Friday, then went scoreless (0/1 FG) with two boards and an assist in 14 minutes in a 73-52 win over Milwaukee at home.

In other NCAA D-1 action, Auckland product Kim Barnes and Harbour centre Rebecca Dew had a quiet week with their teams, UC-Irvine and University of Hawaii respectively.

Barnes went point-less (0/2 FG) with a rebound in 14 minutes of a 54-53 win against Sacremento State on Wednesday, one point (0/2 FG, 1/2 FT), a rebound and assist in 24 minutes in a 75-23 loss to Arizona State on Saturday, and scoreless (0/3 FG) in 10 minutes in a 74-46 loss to Dew’s Rainbow Wahine team on Sunday.

Dew played a minute, going 0/1 FG with two boards in Hawaii’s 77-70 home win over Utah Valley on Tuesday, their first win of the season, then saw three minutes playing time, going 0/1 FG with a single rebound in the win over UC-Irvine.

Emerging Tall Fern Donna Lavea racked up 10 points (4/6 FG, 2/4 FT), eight rebounds, three blocks and two assists in 17 minutes for the Lambuth Lady Eagles in an 85-72 win over William Carey University on Monday in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Lavea then had seven points (3/6 FG, 1/3 FT), three boards and a block in six minutes in a 113-74 rout of Blue Mountain College on Saturday.

In West Virginia, Alana Auld stuffed her stat-line with 10 points (2/13 FG, 1/6 3pt, 6/10 FT), five rebounds, four steals and three assists in 32 minutes of the Ohio Valley Lady Fightin’ Scots 74-58 home loss to University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown on Thursday.

Hailey Purcell put up two points (1/4 FG), four rebounds and a block in eight minutes in UT-Martin’s 82-54 loss to Morehead State in Kentucky on Thursday, following it with two points (0/2 FG, 0/1 3pt, 2/2 FT), a board and assist in seven minutes in the Skyhawks 58-52 loss to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.

Canterbury guard Mandy Caldwell went scoreless (0/2 FG) in four minutes of Florida Southern College’s 80-57 win over Palm Beach Atlantic on Tuesday, while assistant coaches Pina Lissaman and Warrick Wood saw their Rose-Hulman Tech squad split a double-header, defeating Franklin 67-55 on Wednesday but falling to Bluffton 52-50 on Saturday.