Walker, Karchevskaya & Neita receive AUS honours

2023-24 AUS women's basketball major awards and all-stars announced 

UNB's Veinot named AUS Most Valuable Player 

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2023-24 AUS women's basketball all-stars and major award winners as selected by the conference's eight head coaches following regular season play. 

Jayda Veinot, a fifth-year forward for the UNB Reds has been chosen as the 2023-24 AUS Women's Basketball Most Valuable Player.

Other major award winners include Dalhousie's Kaitlyn Ferrier as the Rookie of the Year; Saint Mary's Clara Gascoigne as Defensive Player of the Year; UNB's Katie Butts as the Student-Athlete Community Service Award recipient; Avery Walker of STFX as the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS Tracy McLeod Award; and Saint Mary's head coach Scott Munro as AUS Coach of the Year.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Jayda Veinot, UNB Reds     

Jayda Veinot of the UNB Reds is the Atlantic University Sport Women's Basketball Most Valuable Player for the 2023-24 season.

A fifth-year wing from Port Williams, N.S., Veinot finished second in the conference – and third in U SPORTS - in scoring, averaging 21.3 points every time she stepped on the court. She added 7.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, while also shooting a remarkable 91.3% from the free throw line.

Her play helped the Reds to the league's second-best regular season record (15-5), which grants them a first-round bye through to the semifinals of the AUS playoffs.

Veinot makes a bit of history with the win, as she becomes the first player in AUS women's basketball history to win the MVP award with two different schools – also doing so in 2021-22 as a member of the Acadia Axewomen.

She is the first UNB player to earn MVP honours since Amanda Sharp did back in the 2010-11 season.

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 (2019-20), Acadia's Paloma Anderson (2017-18) and Saint Mary's Justine Colley (2012-13, 2013-14). 

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Kaitlyn Ferrier, Dalhousie Tigers  

Kaitlyn Ferrier of the Dalhousie Tigers has been named the 2023-24 AUS Women's Basketball Rookie of the Year.

In just her first AUS season, the Arts student from Calgary, Alta., started all 20 regular season games and averaged 18.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest. Her 34.8 minutes played per game ranked fourth amongst all AUS players.

Ferrier becomes the first Tiger to win the Rookie of the Year award since Alex Legge did so back in the 2006-07 season.

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 in the 2021-22 season. 

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Clara Gascoigne, Saint Mary's  
Clara Gascoigne of the Saint Mary's Huskies has been chosen as the AUS Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

A six-foot guard from Dartmouth, N.S., Gascoigne started in all 20 games for the Huskies this season, averaging 27.4 minutes per game. She collected 81 defensive rebounds and 28 steals, while leading the AUS in blocks with 28.

She joins UPEI's Carolina Del Santo (2017-18, 2018-19) and fellow Huskie Kennisha-Shanice Luberisse (2014-15, 2015-16) as the only players in league history to win the award in back-to-back years.

Gascoigne now moves on to be the conference nominee for the U SPORTS Defensive Player of the Year award. Luberisse is the only AUS player to ever be honoured with the U SPORTS award, achieving the feat in the 2015-16 season.

STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Katie Butts, UNB Reds  
Katie Butts of the UNB Reds is the 2023-24 recipient of the AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Award and the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS Sylvia Sweeney Award.

The six-foot-two forward from Ottawa, Ont., finished the 2023-24 regular season averaging 12.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

A Dean's List and Academic All-Canadian with a 3.9 GPA, the Psychology major has contributed to the community of Fredericton in several ways.

She developed, proposed and implemented an annual initiative to send less fortunate kids to Reds Sports Camps called the 'Send a Kid to Camp Fund'. Butts designed and sold Reds merchandise the past two seasons with all profits going towards the fund. Eleven children benefitted from her efforts in 2023 with more than 15 expected to this year.

She also was responsible for the return of the 'Read with the Reds' program, in which UNB student-athletes visited over 25 classrooms in the Fredericton community, reading to more than 600 students.

Katie is also the co-president of UNB's Athletes Council and spends her off days refereeing youth basketball.

"Katie is an excellent student-athlete who has excelled in the classroom, on the court, and in serving our communities. Ever since Katie Butts arrived on campus at UNB, she has provided youth with more opportunities to fall in love with the game of basketball," said Reds head coach, Erin McAleenan. "Katie cares about making our community better and it is an honour for her to be recognized for her contributions.

Butts joins Mikaela Dodig (2019-20), Melissa Foster (2011-12), Amanda Sharp (2010-11) and Emily Murphy (2005-06) as Reds who have also won this award, and now becomes the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS Sylvia Sweeney Award. 

STFX's Aliyah Fraser was the last AUS student-athlete to earn the national honour, doing so just last season.

TRACY MACLEOD AWARD: Avery Walker, STFX X-Women 

Avery Walker of the STFX X-Women is the 2023-24 nominee for the U SPORTS Tracy MacLeod Award. This award is given to a women's basketball player who demonstrates determination, perseverance, and unwavering spirit to continue playing the game of basketball.

Walker arrived at STFX in the fall of 2020 and saw her first year of eligibility halted by COVID, while a promising start to her second year was stopped in its tracks by a season-ending rupture of her ACL.

After working diligently to return to the court in her third year, her season was again cut short – this time by an elbow injury that happened after playing just three exhibition games.

As a fourth-year having played just one regular season game in her AUS career, a fully-healthy Walker returned to the court this season and has been a reliable presence on both offense and defense for the X-Women.

She played in 17 games this season, averaging more than 10 minutes played per game and shooting 37.8% from the field.

"Avery has demonstrated tremendous resilience, an enduring passion for the game of basketball, and a champion's spirit in overcoming a number of setbacks during her time with the X-Women basketball program," said X-Women head coach Matt Spencer. "Seeing her finally have a chance to shine on the court has been an inspiration to her team and to all the student-athletes at STFX. We could not be more proud of Avery for her unwavering dedication to the program, to self-improvement, and to the dream of getting to play U SPORTS basketball."

This marks the first time a STFX player has been nominated for the Tracy MacLeod award.

Acadia's Lanae Adams (2018-19) was the last AUS student-athlete to win the national award. 

COACH OF THE YEAR (Dr. Carolyn Savoy Award): Scott Munro, SMU Huskies 

For the fourth time, Saint Mary's Huskies women's basketball head coach Scott Munro has been named the AUS Coach of the Year.

The recipient of the Dr. Carolyn Savoy Memorial Award in 2012-13, 2015-16 and 2016-17, Munro led his Huskies to league-best 17-3 record and a first-round bye into the semifinals of the AUS playoffs.

Saint Mary's captured the AUS title last season and have their sights set on remaining the league champs. If so, they would become the first team to repeat as AUS Women's Basketball champions since Acadia did so in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

SMU led the conference in points for (1,566) while also allowing the fewest (1,233).

Munro now becomes the Atlantic conference nominee for the U SPORTS Coach of the Year award. He is also the most recent AUS coach to win the national award, taking home the honour in 2012-13.  

2023-24 FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS AND ALL-ROOKIE TEAM 

First Team All Stars
Jayda Veinot, UNB, (5th year – Port Williams, N.S.)
Elizabeth Iseyemi, Acadia, (4th year – Dartmouth, N.S.)
Alaina McMillan, Saint Mary's, (5th year – Brantford, Ont.)
Kiyara Letlow, Cape Breton, (3rd year – Toronto, Ont.)
Alana Short, Memorial, (5th year – Barrie, Ont.)

Second Team All Stars
Courtney Donaldson, Saint Mary's, (5th year – Kelowna, B.C.)
Lauren Rainford, UPEI, (4th year – Toronto, Ont.)
Samantha Russell, Acadia, (3rd year – Dartmouth, N.S.)
Ekaterina Karchevskaya, STFX, (4th year – Mogilev, BY)
Lucina Beaumont, Saint Mary's, (4th year – Fredericton, N.B.)

All Rookie Team
Kaitlyn Ferrier, Dalhousie, (Calgary, Alta.)
Shannon Neita, STFX, (Toronto, Ont.)
Simona Matic, Dalhousie (Belgrade, Serbia)
Lily Vrugteman, UPEI, (Cambridge, Ont.)
Maheva Ngassam, UNB, (Saint Hubert, Que.)

The 2024 AUS Basketball Championships presented by Bell and G Series will be hosted at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, February 23-25.

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