February 23rd-24th saw Memorial University’s Sea-hawks fly to the Scotiabank arena in Halifax for the AUS Championship. The top six teams from Atlantic Canada competed for a spot in the upcoming U Sports Final 8 tournament in March. With a conference W/L ratio of 9-11, Memorial University’s Seahawks cemented their spot on the court.
During Friday’s game, Memorial (6th place) faced off against Acadia (3rd place) in the quarterfinals. Remaining down going into the second half of the game, Memorial turned the momentum around and carried through for the win. With only three minutes left in the game, Alana Short secured a pair of free throws to make it 69-67, which kept Memorial ahead.
The game’s final score of 71-68 for the Sea-Hawks brought with it the Semi-Finals, where Memorial University was to play UNB’s Reds.
The last two seasons saw Memorial University defeated in the quarterfinals; Memorial made it to the Semi-Finals back in the 2020 season, and last won the entire tournament in back-to-back wins during the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.
With an early lead after the first quarter, the Seahawks put on the pressure for UNB’s second-place team. The game eventually came to an end with the Reds winning 71-48. The championship game was played with UNB vs Saint Mary’s, where the defending champions at Saint Mary’s took the win for the second year in a row.
Source: Udantha Chandraratne
The AUS Championship tournament brings the end of the 2023-2024 regular season for women’s basketball. With it, star players Rebecka Ekström, Hannah Green, Claire Hickman, Erin Long, and Alana Short get ready to say farewell, while celebrating all that they have accomplished. We look forward to your continued growth and success in everything you do. You wore the red and white proudly.
Pre-season for the 2024-2025 season will commence again in the fall.