Photo Credit: Nick Pearce
A heavyweight matchup between the # 1 ranked St. Mary’s Huskies and # 2 UNB Red’s for the AUS women’s championship did not disappoint to start off championship Sunday. The matchup within the matchup was St. Mary’s AUS first team all star and fifth year guard Alaina McMillan versus AUS MVP and AUS first team all star Jayda Veinot.
The first quarter was filled with nerves from both teams as they struggled to knockdown shots, but it was clear the Huskies game plan from the first whistle was to push the pace of the game against the Red’s. Shots for both squads began to fall as both squads secondary options on offence led the charge, Erin Ingalls (UNB) co-led all scorers in the quarter with 5 points, while AUS defensive player of the year Clara Gascoigne (SMU) chipped in with 5 points as well to lead her team. UNB took a 13-12 lead into the second quarter.
UNB started the second quarter off hot with third year forward Katie Butts and Jayda Veinot carrying the bulk of the offence early. The Huskies coaches did not deviate from the game plan continuing to push the pace of play led by McMillan and Aki Kobayashi who provided much needed bench scoring chipping in with 7 points in the quarter. SMU began to clamp down defensively and took a 29-25 lead into the half time break. Leading scores at the break were, Jayda Veinot leading with 10 points, 2 rebounds & 2 assist and Erin Ingalls who chipped in with 7 points, 3 assist & 2 rebounds. The Huskies were led by Alaina McMillan who carried the offence with 7 points & 2 rebounds.
The third quarter started with both teams coming out hot and much of the fast paced action we saw in the first half carried over into the third quarter. UNB were able to get to their spots in the half court and outscored the Huskies 20-12 in the quarter. The saving grace for the Huskies once again was Alaina McMillan who scored 9 points in the quarter and really began to insert her dominance on the game. Despite McMillan’s best efforts, UNB took a 45-41 lead into the fourth quarter.
McMillan picked up right where she left off to start the quarter, pitching in offensively and on the defensive end of the floor. The story for the fourth quarter was the ability of the Huskies to keep their composure despite being down and managing to keep AUS MVP Jayda Veinot in check. McMillan as she did the entire game, controlled the offence and sparked a SMU 23-4 run and the Huskies never looked back taking home the AUS women’s championship by a score of 64-49. SMU becomes the first back to back championship in the AUS women’s division since the Acadia Axe-Women in the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 season. To nobody’s surprise, Alaina McMillan took home AUS tournament MVP, game MVP and tournament first team all star honours. SMU are off to the Usport Final 8 in Edmonton looking to become national champions.
Key performers from the Huskies were, Alaina McMillan who finished with a game high 22 points, 6 assist and 3 rebounds. UNB had a much more balanced offence with Jayda Veinot leading the way for the Red’s with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assist, while Erin Ingalls chipped in with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assist.
That’s a wrap for the AUS women’s championships, and your 2024 AUS champions are the St. Mary’s Huskies!