McDonald, Helmig, Russell and Iseyemi bring home the hardware in AUS announcement

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2022-23 AUS women's basketball all-stars and major award winners as selected by the conference's eight head coaches following regular season play.

Haley McDonald, a fifth-year guard for the Acadia Axewomen, was chosen as this year's AUS women's basketball most valuable player.

Other major award winners include Acadia's Bianca Helmig, rookie of the year; Saint Mary's Clara Gascoigne, defensive player of the year; Aliyah Fraser of STFX, who wins the student-athlete community service award; Acadia's Samantha Russell, who is the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS Tracy MacLeod Award; and UPEI head coach Matt Gamblin who was named AUS coach of the year for the second consecutive year.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Haley McDonald, Acadia    

Haley McDonald of the Acadia Axewomen is the Atlantic University Sport women's basketball most valuable player for the 2022-23 season.

A fifth-year guard from Port Williams, N.S., McDonald led the conference in points per game with 22.25—the second most in the country—and topped both AUS and U SPORTS stats with her 88.7 free throw percentage. She went 140-332 from the field, 53-133 from behind the arc and totalled 88 assists on the season. McDonald also set many program records during her final year, most notably she became the Axewomen's all-time scoring leader (1,846).

She is the third player in Acadia history to win the conference MVP award, following Jayda Veinot in 2021-22 and Paloma Anderson in both 2017-18 and 2015-16. Today, McDonald was also named a first team all-star.

She now becomes a nominee for the Nan Copp Award for U SPORTS player of the year. Three players from the AUS conference have earned the national honour: UPEI's Jenna Mae Ellworth (2019-20), Acadia's Paloma Anderson (2017-18) and Saint Mary's Justine Colley (2012-13 and 2013-14).

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Bianca Helmig, Acadia

Bianca Helmig of the Acadia Axewomen has been named the AUS women's basketball rookie of the year for 2022-23.

A first-year guard from Speyer, Germany, Helmig played an important role in the Axewomen's success this season, starting in all 19 regular season games and averaging 27.1 minutes per game. A top defender in the AUS, she averaged 8.4 points, 1.5 steals and 3.2 assists per game, boasting a 96.7 free-throw and 37.7 field goal percentage.

Helmig is the fifth player from the Axewomen to earn the rookie of the year award, joining Jayda Veinot (2018-19), Emma Duinker (2007-08), Brigitte Edwards (1989-90) and Michelle St. Pierre (1985-86).

She will now represent the conference as the AUS nominee for the Kathy Shields Award for U SPORTS rookie of the year. Cape Breton University's Kiyara Letlow took home the national honour last season.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Clara Gascoigne, Saint Mary's
Clara Gascoigne of the Saint Mary's Huskies has been chosen as the 2022-23 AUS women's basketball defensive player of the year.

A six-foot guard from Dartmouth, N.S., Gascoigne started in all 20 games for the Huskies, averaging 29.5 minutes per game and tallying 61 defensive rebounds, 82 total rebounds, 32 steals and a 47.9 field-goal percentage. The third-year commerce student also posted a league-leading 23 blocks throughout the regular season.

This marks the third time a Saint Mary's player has been chosen for this award, Gascoigne follows Kennisha-Shanice Luberisse who was the defensive player of the year in 2014-15 and 2015-16. Luberisse is the only AUS player to ever be honoured with the U SPORTS award.

STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Aliyah Fraser, STFX
The STFX X-Women's Aliyah Fraser is the 2022-23 recipient of the AUS student-athlete community service award and the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS Sylvia Sweeney Award.

A five-foot-ten guard from New Glasgow, N.S., Fraser finished the 2022-23 regular season averaging 12.3 points per game, a 75.4 free-throw percentage and a 40.2 three-point percentage. She was also named a U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian for the 2021-22 season.

Fraser continues to make an immense impact on both the New Glasgow and the STFX communities. She serves as the diversity rep on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, a volunteer with STFX's BLACC Society and is the student-athlete representative on the St. Francis Xavier University Racial Equality Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Most notably, Fraser is the founder of the STFX BIPOC Varsity Association, which aims to collect crucial data on the experiences of BIPOC student-athletes and better address their needs.

Last summer, she organized the first Up&Atom Sports and Science Camp in New Glasgow, with a vision to bring the joy of sport and the wonders of science to the youth of her hometown. Fraser was able to welcome over 50 participants at no cost to the two-day camp and plans to continue to organize this initiative in the coming years.

"Aliyah has been the face of X-Women Basketball for the past four years. In addition to excelling on the court, she has also been a stalwart in the classroom and in the community," says STFX head coach Matt Spencer. "I have been tremendously fortunate to have inherited such a standout student-athlete in my first year as X-Women head coach."

Fraser is the first X-Woman to take home this honour and now becomes the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS Sylvia Sweeney Award.

TRACY MACLEOD AWARD: Samantha Russell, Acadia

Samantha Russell of the Acadia Axewomen is the 2022-23 AUS nominee for the U SPORTS Tracy MacLeod Award. This award rewards a women's basketball player who demonstrates determination, perseverance, and unwavering spirit to continue playing the game of basketball.

A second-year guard from Dartmouth, N.S., Russell suffered ACL, MCL and meniscus tears in Acadia's final regular season game of the 2021-22 season and underwent knee surgery one month later. By six months post-op, she was surpassing all statistical timelines and was allowed to return to play with limitations; by the eight-month-mark she met all criteria to return to play.

On January 20, 2023, nearly nine months to the day from her surgery, Russell stepped on the court for her first game back with the Axewomen. In the five games she's played since her return, she's averaged 11.5 points per game, a 55.6 three-point percentage, a 84.6 free-throw percentage, a 50.0 field goal percentage and has been named Subway Player of the Game.

"Sami's attitude throughout her injury was incredible, she was on the therapy table immediately after she got the diagnosis and told me, 'It's ok coach, this won't stop me,'" says Acadia head coach, Len Harvey. "To say I am proud of her efforts and dedication would be an understatement. I've never seen a player return from this injury to game play as quickly or with the impact she has had to date."

This marks fifth time an Acadia player has been nominated for the Tracy MacLeod award, following Kelsey Rice in 2019-20 and Lanae Adams in 2018-19. Adams was the last AUS student-athlete to win the national award.

COACH OF THE YEAR (Dr. Carolyn Savoy Award): Matt Gamblin, UPEI

In his fifth season as head coach of the UPEI Panthers, Matt Gamblin has been chosen by his peers as the recipient of the Dr. Carolyn Savoy Memorial Award for AUS coach of the year for the second consecutive year.

The Panthers finished the 2022-23 season with an 13-7 record and head into championships as the third seed.

The 2019-20 U SPORTS bronze medalists averaged 70.6 points per game, a 74.5 free-throw percentage and a 38.1 field goal percentage while the dominant UPEI defence held opponents to a conference-low 63.7 points per game.

Gamblin now becomes the Atlantic conference nominee for the U SPORTS coach of the year award. Saint Mary's head coach Scott Munro is the most recent AUS coach to win the national award. He took home the honour in 2012-13. 

2022-23 FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS AND ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

First Team All Stars

Haley McDonald, Acadia (5^th year, Port Williams, N.S.)
Kiyara Letlow, Cape Breton (2^nd year, Toronto, Ont.)
Lauren Rainford, UPEI (3^rd year, Toronto, Ont.)
Alaina McMillan, Saint Mary's (4th year, Brantford, Ont.)
Jayda Veinot, UNB (4^th year, Port Williams, N.S.)

Second Team All Stars

Alana Short, Memorial (4^th year, Barrie, Ont.)
Elizabeth Beals-Iseyemi, Acadia (3^rd year, Dartmouth, N.S.)
Sophia Widmeyer, Saint Mary's (5^th year, Dartmouth, N.S.)
MacKenzee Ryan, Cape Breton (5^th year, Glace Bay, N.S.)
Karla Yepez, UPEI (5th year, Quito, Ecuador)

All Rookie Team

Bianca Helmig, Acadia (1^st year, Speyer, Germany)
Darah Fleurgin, Cape Breton (1^st year, Montreal, Que.)
Mercy Olugu, Dalhousie (1^st year, Halifax, N.S.)
Malva Gyllenhammar Ekelof, Memorial (1^st year, Limhamn, Sweden)
Sarah Valley, Dalhousie (1^st, Regina, Sask.)

The 2023 Subway AUS Basketball Championships presented by Bell and G Series will be hosted at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, February 24-26. Click here for the women's championship schedule.

For more information on standings and the full event schedule, visit aushoops.ca.

Single session tickets are now available through Ticket Atlantic. All games will be webcast live at AUStv.ca.

The AUS women's basketball champions will advance to the 2022 U SPORTS women's basketball championships, hosted by Cape Breton University in Sydney, N.S. from March 9-12.