Hamilton’s Charlisse Leger-Walker Becomes First Kiwi Woman to Win NCAA Basketball Title

Charlisse Leger-Walker has made New Zealand sporting history, becoming the first woman from Aotearoa to win an NCAA basketball championship after her UCLA Bruins demolished top-seeded South Carolina 79-51 in the title game on Sunday.

The 24-year-old from Hamilton was in the starting five and played 26 minutes in the final, scoring ten points including two three-pointers while adding four rebounds and two assists. It was a composed, confident performance on the biggest stage in American college basketball, and it capped a remarkable personal journey that has taken Leger-Walker from St Peter’s School in Cambridge to the pinnacle of the sport in the United States.

UCLA never trailed in the championship game. The Bruins jumped on South Carolina early and never let up, with five players finishing in double figures. Senior Gabriela Jaquez led the scoring with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while Gianna Kneepkens added 15. But it was a team effort from start to finish, and Leger-Walker played her part with the kind of sharpshooting that has defined her career. In one memorable sequence, Lauren Betts stole the ball and found Leger-Walker, who drained a three-pointer right in front of the UCLA bench.

The victory gave UCLA its first-ever women’s basketball national championship. The Bruins finished the season with a 37-1 record, one of the most dominant campaigns in the history of the tournament. For Leger-Walker, the title came in her second season at UCLA after transferring from Washington State, where she had spent four seasons and established herself as one of the best guards in the Pac-12.

Basketball runs deep in the Leger-Walker family. Her mother, Leanne Walker, played for the Tall Ferns, New Zealand’s women’s national team, and represented the country at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. Leanne coached Charlisse from a young age through high school, and the results speak for themselves. At St Peter’s School Cambridge, Leger-Walker led her team to four New Zealand National High School Championships, earning team MVP honours each time.

She made her debut for the Tall Ferns at the 2018 Commonwealth Games at just 16 years old, becoming the youngest player to represent New Zealand at senior level. Her older sister Krystal also played college basketball in the United States, first at Northern Colorado and then at Washington State, where the two sisters were teammates during Charlisse’s freshman season in 2020-21.

Leger-Walker’s path to UCLA was not without setbacks. During her final season at Washington State, she suffered an ACL injury in January 2024 that ended her campaign early. She entered the transfer portal and committed to UCLA, where she has since rebuilt her game and found herself on a team capable of winning it all.

The championship is a landmark moment for New Zealand basketball. While the country has produced NBA players and international talent on the men’s side, no Kiwi woman had previously reached the summit of the NCAA tournament. Leger-Walker’s achievement is likely to inspire a new generation of young women picking up a basketball in gyms and school halls across the country.

For UCLA, the win was the culmination of a programme that has been building toward this moment under head coach Cori Close. For Leger-Walker, it was proof that a kid from the Waikato can compete with and beat the very best in the world.

What a moment for New Zealand sport. Let us know in the comments what you think of Charlisse’s historic achievement.