Otago players making mark for US colleges
A MONTH into the college basketball season Otago’s players are beginning to make their mark.
Big man Sam Timmins has impressed in recent games for the University of Washington.
In his second year, he has jumped his scoring and rebounding averages to 5.6 and 5.0 per game, from 3.2 and 3.8 last year.
His team last week claimed a huge 7465 away win against the No 2ranked University of Kansas, a powerhouse of the NCAA.
Timmins scored eight points — on four impressive dunks — as well as grabbing three rebounds.
Defensively, he has also been key, using his length at the back of a zone which often means he has to to cover a lot of ground.
His team has seven wins from 10 matches and has three games left before it begins its Pac12 conference schedule after Christmas.
Also in her second year, Zoe Richards has had success mak ing the jump from junior college to NCAA division two.
The forward is averaging 7.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, helping Eckerd College to nine wins from its first 10 games.
Her most impressive performance came in an eightpoint win over Florida Southern College.
She put up 16 points on 83% shooting, while also grabbing four rebounds in just 18 minutes.
Twin sister Brittany had her best outing of the season two games ago for the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
She managed nine points and six rebounds in a 8172 loss to Central Washington University.
The swingman is averaging 2.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per game, although she has played herself into more minutes of late and got her first start in the last game.
Her team is has two wins from seven games.
In junior college, Joe CookGreen’s Eastern Arizona College has hit a rough patch after a strong start.
The team won its first five games, but has managed just one win from its past seven.
Averaging 4.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, the guard had his best statline earlier this month with 11 points, on fiveofseven shooting, and four rebounds, against Pima.