Brits in College: Week 2 Recap - Hoopsfix.com

Brits in College: Week 2 Recap

Still early days in the season but already we can see a trend that the small contingent of female hoopers from the UK will influence the fortunes of their respective teams.

Player(s) of the Week

There were two outstanding performers this week, who have been chosen as co-players of the week. Houston Baptist’s Erin McGarrachan (pictured, right) had 12 points in 22 minutes in the Huskies’ win over Southern Utah, but it was her second game of the week she really shined.

In a loss to Sam Houston State, McGarrachan had 21 points – a new career high – along with 8 rebounds in 39 minutes.

Harvard’s Temi Fagbenle was the other standout. Harvard now find themselves on a 4 game winning streak with two of those wins from this week.

In their first game against North Dakota State, Temi put together a quietly efficient stat line of 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks in only 19 minutes from her starting role.

In her second game against fellow Brit Timeyin Oritsesan’s Florida International, Temi had 9 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 4 block shots to make her the Hoopsfix co-performer of the week. Timeyin registered a DNP.

In 5 games played so far this season, Temi leads her team on blocks and steals per game and is second for rebounds and points and not too far behind on assists too; an all-round performer indeed.

NCAA Division 1

The best women’s college games from a British perspective are those in which the opposing teams each have one or more players from the kingdom. And so it proved, in the aforemention game when when Ashleigh Munn’s Southern Utah Thunderbirds made the trip to Houston Baptist Huskies where both Maisie Elston (former Southend Swifts, Sevenoaks suns, GB U20) and Erin McGarrachan (GB U20) play. The Huskies won 88 -77, Maisie played 3 minutes but did not trouble the scoreboard. Ashleigh played 1 minute and had 2 points.

In their second game of the week, the Houston Baptist huskies lost to Sam Houston state 68 – 85. Aside from McGarrachan’s career-high, Maisie had 8 minutes off the bench.

Janice-Monakana-ToledoThe Toledo Rockets suffered a 2 points loss (79 – 81) against number 18 ranked Purdue. Former Haringey Angel Janice Monakana (pictured, left) had a great night, putting up 15 points in 21 minutes off the bench, whilst knocking down 2 of 3 from long range and adding 4 rebounds.

In what was undoubtedly a quieter game for freshman Melita Emanuel-Carr than we are used to seeing, her UIC flames nevertheless returned to the winning column with a 70-62 victory over Idaho State Bengals. Melita finished with 4 points, all from the charity stripe in 11 minutes off the bench.

Becca Allison’s Old Dominion lady Monarchs won big 56 – 37 in a low scoring fixture against Radford University. Becca had 7 minutes off the bench.

Mollie Campbell and her UAPB Golden Lions lost their third straight game, this time to Xavier 39 – 69. In her starting role, Mollie put up 2 points and 4 rebounds in 21 minutes.

Maine Blackbear’s balanced offense with 4 players in double-figures led to a 10 point win over Bryant University 75 – 75. Chantel Charles came off the bench and added 6 points and 4 rebounds in 21 minutes of play.

In a double overtime thriller against San Francisco, Ella Clark’s Long beach state picked up its first season win 85 – 82. Ella played 36 minutes and got a game high 4 blocks.

In the first of 2 games this week, Gardner Webb Bulldogs ran out 84-58 winners at home against Kennesaw State. Lana had a productive 10 minutes in which she registered 4 points, 3 assists and 1 steal.

In their second game, the now 4 – 0 Bulldogs beat Appalachian State 69 – 63. Lana played 7 minutes and had 4 rebounds.

This week was a tough one for Shequila Joseph and her Ole Miss rebels team at the Rainbow Wahine Tournament in Hawaii, where they came away with an 0-3 record.

They lost the tournament opener against West Virginia 56 – 86. Shequila made the starting line-up and registered 8 points, 5 rebounds in 20 minutes of play.

In their second game in as many days, the Ole Miss rebels played a closer game, tied at the half, to tournament hosts Hawaii but ultimately losing 63 – 79. Shequila was moved from her starting berth and had 8 points and 7 rebounds in 17 minutes.

In their final tournament game, a 65 – 79 loss to Washington State, Shequila had 4 points and 2 rebounds in 16 minutes of action.

Femi Hamilton and her Umass Lowell Riverhawks team are enduring a difficult start to life in Div. 1 with a 0-3 record, the latest loss coming this week against Holy Cross. Femi barely saw any court time registering 2 minutes.

The Lafayette Leopards have started their season on a tear, wining both games this week and are now 4 – 0 in out of conference play. In the first win of the week against Columbia 95 – 83, GB women’s Harriett Ottewill-Soulsby had 5 minutes off the bench and 3 points.

In a much lower scoring affair against Pittsburgh (48 – 45), Harriet had 2 minutes off the bench.

Jamila Thompson’s Drexel Dragon fought back from a 17 point first half deficit to beat Providence 62 – 52. Jamila came off the pine to add 2 points and 4 rebounds in 10 minutes of play.

Former Solent suns Flo Ward hit the floor again this week in her North Florida win against NAIA for Edward Waters College. Flo played 8 minutes, did not score but added 2 assists. Hoopsfix is thrilled to be able to move Flo from the injured list back to active players.

NCAA Division 2

It can safely be assumed that Jessica Hurd is mostly over her ACL injury as she played 20 minutes off the bench, put up 11 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in an 86 – 64 win over Bridgeport.

Rosie Hynes’s Florida Tech Panthers were at the Rollins Tip-Off classic tournament this week. They lost their first game to number 8 ranked Central Missouri 57 – 73. Although the first half was an evenly matched affair, Central Missouri were able to pull away in the second half for the win. Former Manchester Mystic and GB U20 Rosie Hynes contributed 6 points in 32 minutes of play from her starting role.

The Panthers were able to avenge the defeat the very next day when they took on and beat Pam Beach Atlantic 93 – 83. Rosie put up 16 points in 35 minutes.

In a loss to Tampa, Dee Hayward’s Armstrong Atlantic State Pirates team were beaten 46 -61. Not a single Pirate hit double digit scoring. Dee played 23 minutes off the bench, scoring 4 points.

In their away game fixture against Adelphi, Former Solent Suns and England U18’s Lauren Milligan’s Chestnut Hill were soundly beaten 32 – 85. Lauren had 25 minutes of the bench and added 3 points to her teams tally.

They were unable to make good on that loss a couple of days later at home against Saint Anselm College as they went down 40 – 75. Lauren, who was moved into the starting line-up played 22 minutes, pulled down 6 boards and had 3 points.

Jo Salmon’s Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs were participants at the Missouri Science & Technology tournament and opened their season with an 83 – 70 win against the hosts. Jo registered a DNP.

In the loss against Pittsburgh State the following day, Jo came off the bench and added an assist and a steal in 3 minutes.

Michelle Turner’s Fort Lewis College Skyhawks came up short in their first game of the week against Tarleton State University, losing by 62 – 81 points. Tarleton State’s win was built on the back of a strong 47 – 25 rebounding advantage. Michelle had 10 minutes off the bench.

The Skyhawks redeemed themselves the next day in their matchup against Texas Woman’s University, winning 52 – 49 in a tightly contested game. Michelle played 5 minutes, coming off the bench.

Canada

It’s been a good week for Kristie Shiels’s University of Calgary Dinos, as they won both games in the double header against Manitoba. Kristie started, put up 13 points, 2 assists and 1 steal in 32 minutes in the first game, helping her team get the 67 – 58 win.

The second game a day later was a much closer affair with the Dinos winning 65 – 63. With the game tied at 60 in the final minute, it was former Manchester Mystic Kristie Shiel to the rescue with a made jumper from the top of the key as the shot clock expired.

Queen’s University Gaels started the week off with a close 62 – 66 loss away to Wilfred Laurier. Former GB U20 women’s Gemma Bullard added 8 points to the score in 34 starter minutes.

Queens atoned for the loss somewhat by beating Waterloo University the very next day by 60 – 43. Gemma had a very productive 18 minutes with 14 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist

NCAA Division 3

The Virginia Wesleyan marlins kicked off their season at the University of Mary Washington’s Hampton Inn South Tip-off tournament, opening up with a 47 – 83 loss to State University of New York at Cortland. Abysmal shooting (16% from the field) meant the Marlins were never really in the game. Starter Kerri-Leanne Taylor was ice cold from the field but tied for a game high 8 rebounds in 33 minutes.

24 hours later, the Marlins took to the floor again against Penn State-Altoona and what a difference a day makes. The Marlins shot 36% from the field on their way to an 82 – 43 win. Kerri-Leanne added 10 points and 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in a great all round performance.

JUCO

Former Brixton Topcat and GB U20 women Vanessa Akra and her Darton State Cavaliers took on and lost 57 – 73 to Central Georgia Tech. Vanessa had 2 rebounds and 1 point in 11 bench minutes.

They went on to beat Georgia Perimeter 2 days later 71 -54. Vanessa played 20 minutes in this game scoring 3 points and pulling 3 rebounds down.

Alicia Gallagher and her Lamar Community College Running Lopes won big against Dodge City Community College 103 – 85. Rewind the excitement and watch Alicia in action here.

They were also able to pull off a second win 2 days later against Colby Community College 78 – 69.

NAIA

Its been a busy week for Kaela Greig’s Belhaven University Blazers with 3 games played. Kaela was used sparingly in the 62 – 42 win against Brewton-Parker College where she had a brief 2 min appearance off the bench but did not trouble the scoreboard.

NCCAA

In their lone fixture of the week, the Tennessee Temple Crusaders fell 44 – 74 to North Alabama. Jess Shillito had 4 points and 3 rebounds in 23 minutes of action.

Injury Watch List

  • Senior Kathryn Taylor of Colgate University
  • Christina Gaskin of the Fordham Rams

Thoughts? Anyone we’ve missed who deserves a mention?

Image Credit: Dave Ryan/The Enterprise Photo

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