2009-10 AUS major awards announced

HALIFAX, NS - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2009-10 women's basketball conference major award winners as selected by the eight head coaches.

For the second year in a row, the AUS women's basketball Most Valuable Player is Cape Breton Capers fifth-year guard Kelsey Hodgson of Fredericton, NB. Hodgson, a two-time CIS all-Canadian, became the all-time scoring leader in school history this season (1,588 career points) and led Canadian Interuniversity Sport in scoring once again with a 22.1 points per game average.

Kelsey eclipsed the 30-point mark on three occasions this year and scored over 20 points in 14 of the Capers 20 regular season games. She 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.

Hodgson and former Capers standout Janice Moseychuck are the only players from CBU to be named league MVP. Moseychuck won the award in 1995-96. No Atlantic University Sport player has ever won the Nan Copp Award as the CIS Outstanding Player of the Year.

The Atlantic conference Rookie of the Year is Saint Mary's Huskies first-year guard Justine Colley. Colley, a 5'9" guard from East Preston, NS, played in all 20 of SMU's regular season games this year and led all CIS freshmen in scoring with an average of 20.9 points per game.

Justine scored 20 or more points in 12 games this season, including three 30-plus point efforts. She played an average of 32 minutes per game in her first year and also led the Huskies in steals (2.5 per game) and assists (3.7 per game).

The last Saint Mary's player to win this award was Kelsey Daley who took home the honour in 2005-06. StFX's Theresa McCuish (1991-92), Dalhousie's Carolyn Wares (1993-94) and SMU's Julie Galipeau (1999-00) are the only Atlantic conference players to have been named the CIS Rookie of the Year.

Cape Breton Capers head coach Fabian McKenzie is the Atlantic University Sport women's basketball Coach of the Year for the third time in his career (2001-02, 2005-06, 2009-10).

McKenzie, now in his 11th season with the Capers program, guided Cape Breton (currently ranked No. 5 in CIS) to an impressive 19-1 regular season record this year, his best record yet as a head coach. Coming into this weekend's Subway AUS Championship tournament, his career record (regular season, AUS playoffs and CIS championships) currently stands at 163 wins and 82 losses.

In addition to his three AUS Coach of the Year awards, he was also named the CIS coach of the year in 2005-06 and has been an assistant coach with the Senior Women's National Development team. His CBU squads have now qualified for the AUS championship tournament eleven years in a row, capturing the conference titles 2003-04, 2005-06 and 2008-09. He also guided the Capers to a silver medal at the CIS Championship in March of 2006.

McKenzie is the last Atlantic University Sport coach to be named CIS Coach of the Year (2005-06).

The 2009-10 Defensive Player of the Year is Cape Breton University's Nicole Works. A 5'10", third year guard from Truro, NS, Nicole is a very talented player who is often asked to guard the opposing team's top players.

Nicole, named to the AUS all-rookie team in 2007-08, averaged 6.9 points per game for the No. 5 ranked Capers this season and led the conference in assists (4.7 per game) and finished second in assist/turnover ratio (2.2).

Works joins former Capers Maureen Murrin and Tamara Alleyne as the only CBU recipients of this award. Murrin won the award in 2004-05 while Alleyne won it following the 2006-07 season. No Atlantic University Sport player has yet been named the CIS Defensive Player of the Year.

The Atlantic conference Student-Athlete and Community Service Award winner and nominee for the Sylvia Sweeney Award (excellence in basketball, academics and community involvement) is Dalhousie's Alex Legge.

Legge, a fourth year forward from Mahone Bay, NS, is a former AUS all-star and the 2006-07 AUS Rookie of the Year. This year, she averaged 7.7 points and 5.5 rebounds in 11 regular season games for the Tigers.

Alex, a Neuroscience student who will represent Dalhousie as their nominee for the James Bayer Memorial Scholarship Award this year, has been a Dean's List student and Academic all-Canadian in each of the past three seasons and last year was awarded the Dalhousie President's Award for excellence in athletics, academics, leadership and community service.

Legge has been a member of the Dalhousie University Varsity Council since 2007. This year, she has volunteered for the Meal Assistance Program at the QEII Health Sciences Center in Halifax on a weekly basis and has also volunteered with the "Moving Forward" Patient Walking Program each week. She also gives back to the sport of basketball by assisting at local youth basketball events with score-keeping, refereeing and coaching.

This past October, Alex took the initiative of organizing the Dalhousie team's participation in the annual Breast Cancer Research Fundraiser "Run For The Cure".

The Tracy MacLeod Award Nominee for 2009-10 is Laure Pitfield of the Saint Mary's Huskies. This award rewards a women's basketball player who demonstrates determination, perseverance and unwaivering spirit.

Pitfield, a former CIS all-Canadian at Bishop's University, tore her ACL in 2007 with the Gaiter's and battled back to play at a high level until last year, when she damaged her meniscus, forcing her to sit out the remainder of her season. Laure underwent a Meniscectomy to repair the torn meniscus in July 2009 and after a quick recovery decided she wanted to play basketball again.

She arrived at Saint Mary's in September and progressed to the point where she had regained her confidence and by November was emerging as one of the dominant posts in the AUS.

In late November, Pitfield partially stretched her ACL once again to the point where she was advised that surgery would probably be the best choice once again. She refused and came back in January and has worked her way back once again to get to the point of being a key contributor for SMU while basically playing with one strong leg. Laure averaged 9.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in 19 games with the Huskies in 2009-10. 

"Lo is an unbelievable student, a fierce competitor who has the heart of a warrior, a basketball player and above all else, a person who has certainly inspired everyone in our program this year," says Saint Mary's head coach Scott Munro. "She has been an absolute pleasure to coach and have in our program."

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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.

Source:

John Keefe
Communications Manager
Atlantic University Sport