February 25, 2009 (HALIFAX, NS) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2008-09 women's basketball all-star and all-rookie teams as selected by the conference's eight head coaches.

CIS and AUS scoring leader Kelsey Hodgson of the 1st-place, #6-ranked Cape Breton Capers leads the list of first team selections. Hodgson had a record breaking year, establishing a new single season AUS record for points scored with 515 for an average of 25.8 points per game. Kelsey, a fourth year native of Fredericton, NB, scored 30 or more points in nine of 20 regular season games, including a 46-point effort on January 30th, the second-highest single-game total ever in the history of the Atlantic conference.

Joining Hodgson on the first team are Dalhousie's Jenna Kaye, Memorial's Victoria Thistle, UNB's Amanda Sharpe and StFX's Ashley Stephen.

UNB's Sharpe (16.9 ppg) and MUN's Thistle (16.3 ppg) finished second and third respectively in conference scoring while Kaye, a second team all-Canadian with the UPEI Panthers last season, led the conference in assists (5.5 apg) and averaged 12.4 points per game for the third place Tigers.

Stephen, an all-star for the first time in her career, led the X-Women in scoring this season (12.3 ppg) and finished second in the Atlantic conference in rebounding (8.2 rebounds per game) and steals (2.5 steals per game). She also recorded five double-doubles in conference play.

First Team All-Stars:
Jenna Kaye, Dalhousie (4th year - Sackville, NB)
Kelsey Hodgson, Cape Breton (4th year - Fredericton, NB)
Victoria Thistle, Memorial (3rd year - St. John's, NL)
Amanda Sharpe, UNB (3rd year - Fredericton, NB)
Ashley Stephen, StFX (3rd year - Scarborough, ON)

A pair of former AUS Rookies of the Year were among the second team selections announced today, including Kelsey Daley of the Saint Mary's Huskies (2005-06 ROY) and Acadia's Emma Duinker, who was named last season's top rookie.

Daley finished fourth in conference scoring (16.1 ppg) while Duinker led the Axewomen in scoring with an average of 12.9 points per game, ranking her ninth in the AUS.

UPEI's Myra Donkin, Dalhousie's Laurie Girdwood and Cape Breton's Kari Everett were also selected. Donkin, a fourth year player from Willeton, Australia, tied for the team-lead in scoring (15.5. ppg - 6th in AUS) and also finished third in assists per game (4.8 apg) and free-throw percentage (83.6 %).

Girdwood, also a second team selection in 2006-07, led the Tigers in scoring (13.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 rpg) this season, including four double-doubles.

CBU's Everett finished seventh in league scoring with an average of 13.4 points per game and led the first place Capers in rebounding with 6.2 per game.   

Second Team All-Stars:
Myra Donkin, UPEI (4th year - Willeton, Australia)
Kelsey Daley, Saint Mary's (4th year - Fredericton, NB)
Laurie Girdwood, Dalhousie (4th year - Dundas, ON)
Kari Everett, Cape Breton (3rd year - Stilesville, NB)
Emma Duinker, Acadia (2nd year - Cambridge, NS)

This year marks the third time for the selection of an all-rookie team in women's basketball. Among the first year players selected to the team are Acadia's Keisha Brown and Sondra Medley, Memorial's Alexandria Forsey and Ericka Gratton, as well as UPEI's Carly Lafave.

All-Rookie Team:
Keisha Brown, Acadia (Halifax, NS)
Alexandria Forsey, Memorial (St. John's, NL)
Sondra Medley, Acadia (East Preston, NS)
Ericka Gratton, Memorial (Barrhaven, NL)
Carly Lafave, UPEI (Lena, WI)

The 2009 Subway Atlantic University Sport women's basketball championship is being held this weekend at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS. For more information on the 2009 championship, visit the event website at http://www.athletics.dal.ca/default.cfm?id=1302.

The Atlantic University Sport champion will advance to the 2009 CIS Women's Basketball Championship, March 6-8, 2009, hosted by the University of Regina.

The 2009 Subway Atlantic University Sport women's basketball championship schedule is as follows:

Friday, February 27th
- Quarter-final #1: Dalhousie (3rd) vs. Acadia (6th), 6:00pm
- Quarter-final #2: StFX (4th) vs. UNB (5th), 8:00pm

Saturday, February 28th
- Semi-final #1: Cape Breton (1st) vs. Lowest Remaining Seed, 6:00pm
- Semi-final #2: Memorial (2nd) vs. Highest Remaining Seed, 8:00pm

Sunday, February 29th
- Championship Game: Semi-final Winners, 2:00pm

*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 26th.

This page last modified Sunday, 07-Nov-2010 16:43:43 AST