2009-10 AUS all-stars announced

HALIFAX, NS - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2009-10 women's basketball all-star and all-rookie teams as selected by the conference's eight head coaches following the regular season.

CIS and AUS scoring leader Kelsey Hodgson of the 1st-place, CIS No. 5 ranked Cape Breton Capers once again leads the list of first team selections. Hodgson, last year's AUS Most Valuable Player and now the all-time leading scorer in CBU school history, had another outstanding season for the Capers, averaging 22.1 points per game. Kelsey, a fifth year senior from Fredericton, NB, also led the conference in steals (3.0 per game), free-throw percentage (90.4 per cent) and three-point field goals made with 52.

Joining Hodgson on the first team is CBU teammate Kari Everett along with Acadia's Alise Brown, SMU's Justine Colley and UNB's Amanda Sharpe.

Hodgson, Brown, Colley and Sharpe finished as the top four in scoring in Canadian Interuniversity Sport women's basketball this season and were the only four players in the nation to average over 20 points per game.

Brown, who led the AUS in scoring two years ago as a member of the Saint Mary's Huskies before transferring to Acadia, averaged 21.1 points per game while SMU's Colley, in just her first year of eligibility, scored 20.9 points per game for the Huskies. UNB's Sharpe, also a first team all-star last season, averaged a career-best 20.4 points per game in her fourth year with the V-Reds.

CBU's Everett, a second team selection last season, averaged 13.1 points per game this year.

Hodgson and Brown wrap up their careers as just the seventh and eighth players in AUS history to score over 1,500 points in their respective careers. Each played in 100 career games over their five-year careers, with Kelsey scoring 1,588 points and Alise finishing with 1,522 points.

First Team All-Stars:
Kelsey Hodgson, Cape Breton (5th year - Fredericton, NB)
Alise Brown, Acadia (5th year - Halifax, NS)
Justine Colley, Saint Mary's (1st year - East Preston, NS)
Amanda Sharpe, UNB (4th year - Fredericton, NB)
Kari Everett, Cape Breton (4th year - Stilesville, NB)

StFX's Ashley Stephen, the 2008-09 AUS Defensive Player of the Year, leads the list of second team all-stars announced today. Stephen, a fourth year guard from Toronto, ON, averaged 12.0 points per game and led the conference in rebounding this season with 8.3 per game. She also led the X-Women in steals (2.5 per game) and field goal percentage (44.2 per cent).

Memorial's Victoria Thistle and Erin Mullaley were also selected to the second team along with April Scott and Laurie Girdwood of the Dalhousie Tigers. Thistle led the Sea-Hawks in scoring (15.1 points per game) while Mullaley added 9.5 points per and and ranked fifth in AUS assists with 3.6 per game.

Dalhousie's Girdwood, now a second team selection for the third time in her career, led the Tigers in scoring (13.9 points per game) and rebounding (7.8 per game) this season, including a conference-best six double-doubles. Laurie also established a new Dalhousie record for rebounds in a game, pulling down 21 last week at Acadia.

Scott, the 2004-05 AUS nominee for the Tracy MacLeod Award (determination, perseverence and unwaivering spirit to continue playing the game of basketball), led Dalhousie in assists (4.4 per game) and steals (1.7 per game), while chipping in with 8.8 points per game.

Second Team All-Stars:
Ashley Stephen, StFX (4th year - Toronto, ON)
Erin Mullaley, Memorial (5th year - Freshwater, NL)
April Scott, Dalhousie (5th year - Halifax, NS)
Victoria Thistle, Memorial (4th year - St. John's, NL)
Laurie Girdwood, Dalhousie (5th year - Dundas, ON)

This year marks the fourth time an all-rookie team has been selected in AUS women's basketball. Among the first year players selected to the team are Justine Colley and Robbi Daley of the Saint Mary's Huskies, Acadia's Lindsay Harris, Memorial's Jennifer Parsons as well as StFX's Rebecca Sheehan.

All-Rookie Team:
Justine Colley, Saint Mary's (East Preston, NS)
Lindsay Harris, Acadia (New Minas, NS)
Jennifer Parsons, Memorial (Pouch Cove, NL)
Rebecca Sheehan, StFX (New Maryland, NB)
Robbi Daley, Saint Mary's (Fredericton, NB)

The 2010 Subway Atlantic University Sport Women's Basketball Championship will be hosted by Cape Breton University, February 26-28, 2010 at the Sullivan Field House in Sydney, NS.

The championship schedule is as follows:

Friday, February 26th
Quarter-final #1: Saint Mary's (3rd) vs. Acadia (6th), 6:00pm
Quarter-final #2: StFX (4th) vs. Dalhousie (5th), 8:00pm

Saturday, February 27th
Semifinal #1: Cape Breton (1st) vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, 6:00pm
Semifinal #2: Memorial (2nd) vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 8:00pm

Sunday, February 28th
Championship Game: Semi-final Winners, 1:00pm

The 2010 CIS Women's Basketball Championship is scheduled for March 12-14, 2010, hosted by McMaster University.

*Note: Headshots of any of the above all-stars are available by contacting me directly. The women's basketball major award winners will be released Thursday, February 25th.

- AUS -