Basketball ACT

Alison returns to lead the Cyclones to Rd 2

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Iowa State University celebrated Alison Lacey's return to the lineup with a 79-42 victory at home over Lehigh University today in the first round of the fabled NCAA women's tournament.

Canberra-native Lacey, who missed the previous four games with pneumonia, looked healthy while playing 29 minutes.

The All-Big 12 guard had seven points, seven assists and four rebounds as the fourth-seeded Cyclones (24-7) moved into a second-round game Wednesday morning Canberra-time against No. 12 seed Wisconsin-Green Bay, which upset 5th seeded Virginia 69-67.

Iowa State, which tied Oklahoma for second place in the Big 12, went 1/3 in the games Lacey missed, including a loss to Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

But with their floor leader back in action, the Cyclones took control early against Lehigh and never let up, winning in the first round for the fourth straight time and improving to 17-1 at home this season.

Adrie and Caitlin finish the year at Salina

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Caitlin Rowe's Gulf Coast Community College Commodores have defeated the Jefferson College Vikings 83-61 to win the 2010 NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship.

The Commodores held a 36-23 lead at the half and were never seriously threatened with Tournament MVP Andrea Smith having a game high 35 points as Gulf Coast finished 32-1 on the season.

Playing time was scarce for Rowe, a Freshman, in the last two games but it's a wonderful start to her college journey with three years of eligibility ahead.

Update from Salina, Kansas, Wednesday 19th March

Adrie Shiels' Junior College career came to an end in rather sombre fashion as Midland College crashed out of the Junior College National Championships with an overtime loss to the Monroe College Tribunes. Adrie will now focus on her final exams and rehab / surgery for her long-term shoulder injury before beginning Stage two of her college career on scholarship at the University of Idaho in August.

Update from Salina, Kansas, Wednesday 17th March

Adrie Shiels' Midland College team was today condemned to playing off for fifth by the well-supported Kansas Labette Community College team who shot out to a 10-0 start and were never led. Adrie added 8 pts, 2 rebounds & 2 assists, but it wasn't enough to overcome an aggressive, hustling team led by Juco All-American Kellindra Zackery.

Caitlin Rowe's Gulf Coast Community College made it safely into the Final Four with a 74-64 win over Monroe Community College. There was an interesting contrast in Junior College playing styles between the two games with Midland using constant substitutions to play 12 players (all 6 minutes or more), while in Caitlin's Gulf Coast team, the 8th player played 9 minutes with four (including Caitlin) not playing at all.

Previously

From his reclining position poolside in Salina Kansas, our reporter Murray Shiels sets the stage for the upcoming National Junior Collegiate Championship.

The National Junior College Association of America's Division 1 Women's Basketball Championship, otherwise known as the "Salina JUCO Basketball Blast" starts in the Bicentennial Center; Salina, Kansas, USA on Tuesday March 16th. Sixteen Regional champions will play a knockout tournament for the National Championship.

Canberra is represented by many-times ACT team-mates Caitlin Rowe (Wests) who is a freshman with Gulf Coast Community College in Florida (seeded 2nd) and Adrie Shiels (Weston Creek), a sophomore with Midland College in Texas (seeded 3rd).

Here is the tournament website.
http://www.salinakansas.org/visit/basketball.asp
and the well-hidden tournament schedule
http://www.njcaa.org/championshipdocs/Womens_Division_1_Bracket.pdf
All games will be webcast live via the "Game Webcasts" link.

If the seeded teams proceed as planned, Adrie and Caitlin are scheduled to meet in the semi-final at 6:00pm Friday 19th (10:00am Saturday 20th Canberra time). We wish both Adrie and Caitlin the best for the tournament and we'll keep you up to date with the results.

Premier Finals Action

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Come on down and support your local Basketball Teams, and clubs as they campaign for the 2009/2010 Title of Premier Champion.

All our games will have stats broadcasted live to the website; click your game below for the game broadcast.

17 Mar 2010 07:00	Weston Creek Woden Dodgers	Belconnen Ramblers	Premier 1 Men	Live Stats Link, Click Here
17 Mar 2010 07:00	Tuggeranong Vikings	Wests Magpies	Premier 1 Women	Live Stats Link, Click Here
17 Mar 2010 08:30	Tuggeranong Vikings	Wests Magpies	Premier 1 Men	Live Stats Link, Click Here
17 Mar 2010 08:30	CLC Ginninderra Rats	Weston Creek Woden Dodgers	Premier 1 Women	Live Stats Link, Click Here
18 Mar 2010 07:40	Tuggeranong Vikings	Tuggeranong Southern Cross	Premier 2 Men	Live Stats Link, Click Here
18 Mar 2010 07:40	Wests Magpies	Weston Creek Woden Dodgers	Premier 2 Women	Live Stats Link, Click Here
18 Mar 2010 09:10	Weston Creek Woden Dodgers	CLC Ginninderra Rats	Premier 2 Men	Live Stats Link, Click Here
18 Mar 2010 09:10	Unican	Tuggeranong Vikings	Premier 2 Women	Live Stats Link, Click Here

Wheelchair Games, Check it out!

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

SEE THE PRESENT AND FUTURE ROLLERS BATTLE FOR THE FRANK PONTA TROPHY

The winner of the Frank Ponta Trophy will be decided this weekend when the inaugural National Wheelchair Development League culminates in the Finals Series at the Australian Institute of Sport.

After a successful opening weekend from March 6-7, Round 2 of the National Wheelchair Development League tips off on Friday March 19 followed by the Finals Series on Saturday and Sunday.

With an average winning margin of only six points in Round 1, Round 2 and the Finals Series is sure to involve some thrilling encounters and entry is free for all spectators.

Four teams will take to the court from March 19-21 at the Australian Institute of Sport, putting in their claim for the Frank Ponta Trophy, named after the "father figure" of Australian Paralympic Sport.

The NWDL was established through a partnership between the Australian Paralympic Committee and Basketball Australia to create more game experience for wheelchair basketball players based in Australia after a need was seen for more competitive experience needed for the next generation of Rollers.

The teams contain a mixture of players from Paralympians and Australian U23 representatives through to players with only 1-2 years of NWBL experience.

The four teams are named after some of the biggest names in the history of Australia's Wheelchair Basketball Men's team, in this year, the 50^th anniversary of the team's first appearance at a Paralympic Games.

Teams are named after:

· John Turich - 1960 Rome Paralympic Games inaugural captain of the Rollers

· Sandy Blythe - 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games Gold medal co-captain

· David Gould - 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games Gold medal co-captain

· Brad Ness - 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games Gold medal captain

A focus of the D-league is to also help in the development of coaches, referees and technical officials.

The plan at this stage is to expand the NWDL each year to include more athletes, coaches and officials.

For the full fixture of Round 2 and the Finals Series click here

For more information please contact:
Kimberley Lewis
Basketball Australia
T: 02 9469 7236
M: 0419 448 375
E: kimberley.lewis@basketball.net.au
W: www.basketball.net.au