McMillan, Gascoigne named AUS All-Stars
Saint Mary's Huskies women's basketball guards Alaina McMillan and Clara Gascoigne have been selected as AUS all-stars by the conference's eight head coaches.
Alaina McMillan, a third-year guard out of Brantford, ON was named a First Team All-Star. On the season McMillan led the Huskies in scoring, and finished top ten in the conference in the following categories:
- Games played and games started (16, T1st)
- Three-pointers made (38, 2nd)
- Total points scored (244, 4th)
- Three-point percentage (38%, 4th)
- Points per game (15.3, 5th)
- Steals (26, 5th)
- Field goals made (86, 5th)
- Free-throw percentage (79.1, 6th)
- Minutes played (528, 6th)
- Assists (43, 7th)
- Minutes per game (33.0, 7th)
McMillan was also honoured as a Second Team AUS All-Star in 2019-20, and an All-Rookie team selection in 2018-19.
Clara Gascoigne, a second-year guard out of Dartmouth, N.S. was named a Second Team All-Star. On the season Gascoigne led the Huskies in rebounding, steals and blocks, and finished top ten in the conference in the following categories:
- Games played and games started (16, T1st)
- Steals (37, 1st)
- Blocks (26, 2nd)
- Field goal percentage (46.9, 2nd)
- Minutes played (531, 4th)
- Minutes per game (33.2, 5th)
- Field goals made (82, 8th)
- Free throws made (46, 8th)
- Defensve rebounds (85, 8th)
- Total points scored (219, 9th)
See the full release of AUS women's basketball award winners below:
2021-22 AUS women's basketball major awards and all-stars announced
Acadia's Jayda Veinot named most valuable player
(HALIFAX, N.S.) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2021-22 AUS women's basketball all-stars and major award winners as selected by the conference's eight head coaches following regular season play.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Jayda Veinot, Acadia University
Jayda Veinot, a six-foot wing with the Acadia Axewomen, is the Atlantic University Sport women's basketball most valuable player for the 2021-22 season.
A fifth-year science student from Port Williams, Nova Scotia, Veinot led the Axewomen, the AUS and the country with 23.4 points per game this season. She averaged 7.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and totaled 351 points on the season, the second most across all U SPORTS student-athletes.
Acadia finished the regular season in second place, with an 11-4 record, and will face the seventh place STFX X-Women in the 2022 Subway AUS women's basketball quarterfinals.
Veinot is a two-time AUS second team all-star and was the AUS rookie of the year for the 2018-19 season. Today, she was also named to the 2021-22 AUS first team all-star squad.
She is the second player in Acadia history to win the conference MVP award. Former Axewoman Paloma Anderson was chosen as the AUS's most valuable player in both 2017-18 and 2015-16.
Veinot 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 in 2019-20, Acadia's Paloma Anderson in 2017-18 season and Saint Mary's Justine Colley who earned back-to-back Nan Copp awards in 2012-13 and 2013-14.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Kiyara Letlow, Cape Breton University
Kiyara Letlow of the Cape Breton Capers is the AUS women's basketball rookie of the year for 2021-22. A six-foot-one forward from Toronto, Ontario, she started in all 15 games for the Capers this season.
A first-year arts student, Letlow made an immediate impact on both her team and the conference, averaging 15.7 rebounds per game—the most in the AUS and the country. She also averaged 22.7 points per game, second only to league MVP Jayda Veinot both in AUS and U SPORTS stats.
Along with being honoured as the conference's top rookie, Letlow was named a 2021-22 first team all-star today. She is the sixth player from the Capers to earn the rookie of the year honour, joining current teammate Hailey MacLeod (2019-20), Alison Keough (2013-14), Colleen Keane (2012-13), Amanda Fisher (1998-99) and Janice Moseychuck (1994-95).
Letlow will now represent the conference as the AUS nominee for the Kathy Shields Award for U SPORTS rookie of the year. Alison Keough is only player from the Capers to ever win the national rookie of the year award.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Carolina Del Santo, UPEI Panthers
Carolina Del Santo of the UPEI Panthers women's basketball team has been chosen as the 2021-22 AUS defensive player of the year in addition to earning a first team all-star nod today.
A fifth-year player hailing from Barcelona, Spain, the six-foot-one Del Santo led the AUS in blocks (2.1 per game) and defensive rebounds (12.8 per game) this season. She also averaged the second-most rebounds per game (15.0) in both the conference and the country.
At the end of the 2021-22 regular season, UPEI held their opponents to a league-low 60.8 points per game.
This marks Del Santo's third AUS defensive player of the year award, and the fourth consecutive time a member of the UPEI Panthers has taken this honour. Del Santo will now become the Atlantic conference nominee for the U SPORTS defensive player of the year award.
Former Saint Mary's Huskies standout Kennisha-Shanice Luberisse earned the national honour in 2015-16. She is the only AUS player to ever be honoured with the U SPORTS award.
TRACY MACLEOD AWARD NOMINEE: Gabrielle Roche, Memorial University
Gabrielle Roche of the Memorial Sea-Hawks is the 2021-22 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 third-year post from St. John's, Newfoundland, Roche started in all 14 games for the Sea-Hawks this season, averaging 23.3 minutes, 7.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
After suffering a torn ACL at the 2017 Canada Games and undergoing surgery, Roche preserved through the physical and mental challenges that came with missing her entire grade 12 year on the court. Thanks to a tremendous amount of work, she was able to overcome the setbacks connected to her injury and join the Sea-Hawks for the 2018-19 season. Since then, she's continued to push herself to be a major contributor to the Memorial squad, playing in 15 of 20 games in her rookie season and all 20 games in 2019-20, averaging 12.3 minutes per game.
Roche's win marks the third time a player from the Sea-Hawks has earned this honour, following Brooklynn Wright in 2016-17 and Brittany Dalton in 2010-11. She now becomes the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS Tracy MacLeod Award. The last AUS student-athlete to win the national award was Acadia's Lanae Adams in 2018-19.
STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Lauren Rainford, UPEI
The UPEI Panthers' Lauren Rainford is the 2021-22 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 Toronto, Ontario, Rainford has been a standout on the basketball court, in the classroom and in her community.
She played in 13 games for the Panthers this season, averaging 18.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. She led the conference in three-point percentage, at 44.1 percent, and had the second-best free-throw percentage at 87.3 percent. In 2019-20 Rainford was a member of the AUS all-rookie team and was also UPEI's rookie of the year; today, she was also named an AUS first team all-star.
A third-year political science student, she maintains a 4.1 GPA, is a two-time Academic All-Canadian and has been in Dean's list honours standing since 2019.
Rainford is heavily involved with Global Brigades, a non-profit health and sustainable development organization, and has led a number of fundraisers, both on and off-campus, to support an upcoming medical brigade volunteer trip to Honduras. She also gives her time to a local elementary school's breakfast program and volunteers at a high school writing centre, helping students who struggle with writing and grammar.
On campus, Rainford is a leader in UPEI's Shoot for the Cure initiative, facilitating various fundraising functions to help support the national program
She is the second player from the Panthers to take home this honour and the first since Kiera Rigby in 2017-18. Rainford now becomes the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS Sylvia Sweeney Award, which Rigby also won in 2018.
DR. CAROLYN SAVOY AWARD (AUS COACH OF THE YEAR): Matt Gamblin, UPEI
In his fourth season at the helm UPEI Panthers, head coach 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 first time in his career.
Under Gamblin's leadership, the Panthers finished the 2021-22 season with an 11-2 record, claiming the top spot in conference standings. The defending AUS champions (and 2019-20 U SPORTS bronze medalists) averaged 75.5 points per game, an 80.9 free-throw percentage and a 40.6 field goal percentage. The Panthers were also a defensive powerhouse in the AUS, holding opponents to a conference low 60.8 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.
FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS AND ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
First Team All-Stars:
Jayda Veinot, Acadia University (3rd year, Port Williams, NS)
Kiyara Letlow, Cape Breton (1st year, Toronto, ON)
Lauren Rainford, UPEI (2nd year, Toronto, ON)
Alana Short, Memorial (3rd year, Barrie, ON)
Alaina McMillan, Saint Mary's (3rd year, Brantford, ON)
Second Team All-Stars:
Clara Gascoigne, Saint Mary's (2nd year, Dartmouth, NS)
Elizabeth Beals-Iseyemi, Acadia (2nd year, Dartmouth, NS)
Carolina Del Santo, UPEI (5th year, Barcelona, Spain)
MacKenzee Ryan, Cape Breton (4th year, Glace Bay, NS)
Inés Salat Margarit, Memorial (4th year, Barcelona, Spain)
All-Rookie Team:
Kiyara Letlow, Cape Breton (1st year, Toronto, ON)
Rebecka Ekstrom, Memorial (1st year, Taby, Sweden)
Katie Butts, UNB (1st year, Ottawa, ON)
Samantha Russell, Acadia (1st year, Dartmouth, NS)
Alicia Bowering, UPEI (1st year, Orangeville, ON)
The 2022 Subway AUS Basketball Championships will be hosted at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 17-20. 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 Queen's University in Kingston, ON, from March 31-April 3.