Saint Mary’s Clara Gascoigne named most valuable player
(HALIFAX, N.S.) – Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2024-25 AUS women’s basketball all-stars and major award winners as selected by the conference’s eight head coaches following regular season play.
Clara Gascoigne, a fifth-year guard for the Saint Mary’s Huskies, was chosen as this year’s AUS women’s basketball most valuable player. She was also named the conference’s defensive player of the year.
Other major award winners include UNB’s Addie Mombourquette, AUS rookie of the year; Katie Butts, also from UNB, who wins the student-athlete community service award; and Acadia’s Sarah Delorey, who is the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS Tracy MacLeod Award; and Saint Mary’s Scott Munro who has been named AUS Coach of the Year for the second straight season.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Clara Gascoigne, Saint Mary’s Huskies (Featured image)
Clara Gascoigne of the Saint Mary’s Huskies is the Atlantic University Sport women’s basketball most valuable player for the 2024-25 season.
An MBA student in her fifth year of eligibility from Dartmouth, N.S., Gascoigne led the U SPORTS no. 5-ranked Huskies to an 18-2 regular season record, a first-place finish in the conference standings and a first-round bye through to the championship semi-final round.
She was the Huskies leading scorer this season, averaging 15.6 points per game. She also finished the regular season second in the conference in steals, averaging 2.4 per game.
In addition to earning top conference honours, Gascoigne was named the AUS Defensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive season today. (More below.)
She was also named an AUS first team all-star for the first time in her career. Her first conference all-star nod came in the 2021-22 season when she was named to the second team all-star squad.
Gascoigne is the first player from Saint Mary’s to be named AUS MVP since former Huskies standout and all-time U SPORTS leading scorer Justine Colley earned the honour in back-to-back seasons in 2012-13 and 2013-14.
Gascoigne now becomes the Atlantic conference nominee for the Nan Copp Award for U SPORTS player of the year. Four players from the AUS conference have earned the national honour: UNB’s Jayda Veinot last season, UPEI’s Jenna Mae Ellsworth (2019-20), Acadia’s Paloma Anderson (2017-18) and Saint Mary’s Colley (2012-13 and 2013-14).
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Addie Mombourquette, UNB REDS
Addie Mombourquette of the UNB REDS has been named the AUS women’s basketball rookie of the year for 2024-25.
A first-year guard from Fredericton, N.B., Mombourquette was the league’s leading first-year scorer this season, averaging 10.8 points per game.
She also boasted the best free throw percentage in U SPORTS of 87.7.
Mombourquette played in all 20 games for the REDS this season, getting the start in 18 of them and averaging 28.0 minutes per game.
In addition to being named the conference’s top rookie, she also earned a place on the AUS all-rookie team.
Mombourquette’s rookie of the year nod marks the first time a REDS player has earned the honour since former UNB standout Claire Colbourne earned the honour in the 2010-11 season.
She will now represent the conference as the AUS nominee for the Kathy Shields Award for U SPORTS Rookie of the Year. The most recent Atlantic conference player to win the national honour was current Cape Breton CAPERS standout Kiyara Letlow during her rookie season in 2021-22.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Clara Gascoigne, Saint Mary’s Huskies
Clara Gascoigne of the Saint Mary’s Huskies has been chosen as the 2024-25 AUS women’s basketball defensive player of the year.
This marks her third consecutive season earning the honour.
A six-foot guard from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Gascoigne started in 19 games for the Saint Mary’s and led the Huskies in minutes, averaging 31.6 per game.
Also named the 2024-25 AUS MVP and an AUS first team all-star, she finished second in the conference in steals, averaging 2.4 per game.
She also contributed 4.3 defensive rebounds per game and had 16 blocks on the season.
Gascoigne is just the second Saint Mary’s player to be named the conference’s top defensive player, and the first to earn the honour three times. She is also the first player in conference history to win this award in three consecutive season.
Former Huskies standout Kennisha-Shanice Luberisse was named 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: Katie Butts, UNB REDS
The UNB REDS’ Katie Butts is the 2024-25 recipient of the AUS student-athlete community service award and the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS Sylvia Sweeney Award.
This is her second consecutive season earning the honour.
A fourth-year forward from Ottawa, Ont., Butts was the REDS’ leading scorer this season, averaging 19.1 points per game—good for third in conference scoring and fifth nationally.
She led AUS in blocks with 32 on the season (1.6 per game). She finished second in the conference and third in U SPORTS in rebounding, averaging 12.0 per game. Her free throw percentage (83.2) was the second best in AUS, and she led the league in field goals (139-311).
She was named an AUS first team all-star today—her first time being named to a conference all-star squad since making the AUS all-rookie team in 2021-22.
As impressive in the classroom as she is on the court, Butts is a two-time Academic All-Canadian and boasted a 4.1 GPA last semester. She has also made the Dean’s List the last two years.
Also heavily active in the Fredericton community, Butts developed and implemented the Send a Kid to Camp Fund—which allows children to attend REDS sports camps who might not otherwise be able to. The past three seasons, she has designed and sold REDS merchandise with all profits going to the fund.
Butts is also credited with reviving the Read with the REDS program which has student-athletes visit local elementary schools and read to classrooms.
On campus Butts is co-president of the Athletes Council, and off campus she is volunteers officiating youth basketball games.
“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 is the fifth player from UNB to win this award, but the first player in team and league history to earn it in back-to-back seasons.
She now becomes the AUS nominee for the U SPORTS Sylvia Sweeney Award. Former STFX standout Aliyah Fraser (now with the Saint Mary’s Huskies) is the most recent Atlantic conference recipient of the national honour. A player from UNB has yet to win the award nationally.
TRACY MACLEOD AWARD: Sarah Delorey, Acadia Axewomen
Sarah Delorey of the Acadia Axewomen is the 2024-25 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 fourth-year kinesiology student from Elmsdale, N.S, Delorey has battled through numerous injuries throughout her career with the Axewomen, including knee surgery, an ankle fracture, an Achilles injury and two concussions—most recently one this fall semester.
Despite having to overcome these challenges, she suited up in 17 games for Acadia this season, contributing 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Her field goal percentage of 57.5 was the best in the conference and the fourth best in the country.
“The myriad of injury issues Sarah has experienced haven’t stopped her from playing, when many athletes with less resilience would have taken a different path,” said Axewomen head coach Len Harvey. “Sarah has been incredibly dedicated to her recovery in each instance and is currently playing the best basketball of her career. Sarah has been in our leadership group for the past two seasons and hasn’t missed a beat as one of the primary leaders of our team throughout that time, even while she was dealing with injuries that were keeping her off the court.”
This marks sixth time an Acadia player has earned the AUS honour. Most recently, current Axewomen standout Samantha Russell won in 2022-23.
Nationally, former Acadia player Lanae Adams earned the U SPORTS honour most recently in 2018-19.
COACH OF THE YEAR (Dr. Carolyn Savoy Award): Scott Munro, Saint Mary’s
In his 16th season as head coach of the Saint Mary’s Huskies, Scott Munro 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 and the fifth time in his career.
Munro’s U SPORTS no. 5-ranked Saint Mary’s squad finished the 2024-25 season atop the conference standings with an 18-2 record and earned a bye through to the championship semifinals.
The Huskies defence led AUS this season, holding opponents to an average of 58.2 points per game. They also held their opponents to the fewest field goal attempts and the lowest field goal percentage (31.9).
Saint Mary’s also led the league in offensive efficiency (0.917) and net efficiency (0.168). They led in blocks per game (5.2) and offensive rebounds per game (14.3).
They head into this weekend’s championship as the top seed.
Munro now becomes the Atlantic conference nominee for the U SPORTS coach of the year award. He is the most recent AUS coach to win the national award. He took home the honour in 2012-13.
2024-25 FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS AND ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
First Team All-Stars:
Clara Gascoigne, Saint Mary’s (5th year – Dartmouth, N.S.)
Kiyara Letlow, Cape Breton (4th year – Toronto, Ont.)
Samantha Russell, Acadia (4th year – Dartmouth, N.S.)
Lauren Rainford, UPEI (5th year – Toronto, Ont.)
Katie Butts, UNB (4th year – Ottawa, Ont.)
Second Team All-Stars:
Lucina Beaumont, Saint Mary’s (5th year – Fredericton, N.B.)
Bianca Helmig, Acadia (3rd year – Speyer, Germany)
Ekaterina Karchevskaya, STFX (5th year – Mogilev, Belarus)
Aki Kobayashi, Saint Mary’s (5th year – Osaka, Japan)
Devon Lawlor, UPEI (4th year – Millcove, P.E.I.)
All-Rookie Team:
Addie Mombourquette, UNB (Fredericton, N.B.)
Evie Hargraves, Saint Mary’s (Saint John, N.B.)
Bianca Minelli, Acadia (Brescia, Italy)
Ayla White, STFX (Ancaster, Ont.)
Ali Oluyole, STFX (Wolfville, N.S.)
The 2025 Bell AUS Basketball Championships will be hosted by the AUS conference at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, N.S., Feb. 28 to March 2. Each doubleheader will feature one women’s game and one men’s game.
All games of the championship will be streamed live on AUStv.
For more information on the 2025 Bell AUS Basketball Championships, visit the event website at: www.AUSHoops.ca. Single session tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster here.
The 2025 INDOCHINO U SPORTS Women’s and Men’s Final 8 Basketball Championships are being hosted together March 13-16 in Vancouver, B.C.
The Atlantic conference is guaranteed only one berth in each championship, which will be awarded to the AUS champions.
