Huge congratulations are in order for SMU Huskies women’s teams and athletes! On the courts, on the field and on the ice, female student-athletes have shone this season.
Most recently, two Huskies women's teams won AUS Championships on the same day, with the volleyball team joining the women's basketball team that won their third straight title earlier in the day at the Scotiabank Centre.
The Saint Mary's Huskies won their third Atlantic University Sport women's basketball championship, defeating the UPEI Panthers 68-53 on March 2. The win secured the team’s spot in the U SPORTS Final 8 National Championship, which will be played March 13-16 in Vancouver, BC.
TheHuskies are the 2024-2025 AUS Women’s Basketball Champions for the third year in a row
The Huskies are the first AUS women's basketball program to hoist the AUS banner three straight years since their predecessors won four consecutive titles from 2013-2016.
MBA student Clara Gascoigne was named the AUS Women's Basketball MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Tournament MVP. Lucina Beaumont, Evie Hargraves and Aki Kobayashi were also recognized with AUS awards.
Clara Gascoigne at the 2024-2025 U SPORTS Awards Banquet
Gascoigne was also named 2024-25 U SPORTS women's basketball defensive player of the year and a First Team All-Canadian. The six-foot guard from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, started in 19 games and led the Huskies in minutes, averaging 31.6 per game.
She is only the second Saint Mary's player and the second Atlantic University Sport women's basketball player to win the Defensive Player of the Year award after Kennisha-Shanice Luberisse and second to be named First Team All-Canadian after Justine Colley-Leger.
The Huskies are the 2024-2025 AUS Women’s Volleyball champions
The Saint Mary's Huskies women’s volleyball team became the AUS Champions for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
The Huskies defeated the Memorial Sea-Hawks to win the 2024-2025 AUS Championships, with left-side hitter Emilia Mikanovich named the AUS MVP and Playoff MVP. Grace Blaskovits was named AUS Rookie of the Year and Alena Piatukhova was named First Team All-Star. Both the Huskies and Sea-Hawks will move on to represent the AUS at the 2025 U SPORTS National Championship, and will be making their second straight appearance at nationals slated for March 14-16 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
More honours for student-athletes
Women’s Hockey captain Ashley Penney was recognized for her academic, athletic and community contributions with the AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Award. Abigail MacKenzie and Ava Shearer also received AUS awards.
In the Fall term, Cara Freeman was named 2024 AUS Women's Soccer First Team All-Star and Elliana Porter was named 2024 AUS Women's Rugby All-Star.
AUS award winners Clara Gascoigne, Ashley Penney and Emilia Mikanovich