(HALIFAX, N.S.) – Atlantic University Sport held a press event Monday afternoon at the Scotiabank Centre to make several exciting announcements around the upcoming Subway AUS Basketball Championships.
Five women's games and five men's games will be played from Friday, March 3 to Sunday, March 5 at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.
AUS executive director Phil Currie made several announcements around the upcoming championship weekend, including the naming of renowned Saint Mary's Huskies basketball alumna Justine Colley-Leger as the event's honorary chair.
The 5-foot-9 guard played five season with the Saint Mary's Huskies from 2009-10 to 2013-14.
The East Preston, N.S. native was the 2013 and 2014 recipient of the Nan Copp Award as CIS (now U Sports) player of the year.
Colley-Leger was the AUS scoring champion in all but her freshman year with the Huskies. She is a three-time CIS first team all-Canadian, a five-time AUS first team all-star and a two-time AUS MVP. She was also the 2010 AUS rookie of the year.
She holds the AUS single-season points record, having scored 565 points in one season. And most notably, Colley-Leger's career points scored total 2,376—more than any other women's basketball student-athlete has ever posted in AUS and U Sports history.
In 2014, she earned the CIS (now U Sports) BLG Award as the top female student-athlete in the country.
She graduated in 2014 with a degree in finance and began a career with RBC Royal Bank. Now married, with children of her own, she continues to give back to young people in her community as a motivational speaker. Colley-Leger talks to youth around the Halifax area about achieving goals, overcoming obstacles and using your athletic talents to gain a post-secondary education.
"We're thrilled Justine agreed to come on board as this season's honorary chair," said AUS executive director Phil Currie. "Justine represents everything we know our student-athletes—past and present—to be. In her playing days, she worked hard in the classroom while simultaneously proving herself to be one of the best basketball players in the country. Now that she has graduated, she juggles a successful career and motherhood while continuously giving back to the community."
With the final regular season games having been played this past weekend, the seeding and championship schedule are now set. As of 11 a.m. today, single tickets are on sale now through Ticket Atlantic and can be purchased by calling the box office at (902) 451-1221 or their toll-free line at 1-877-451-1221, or online at www.ticketatlantic.com.
Championship action will kick off Friday afternoon with the women's quarterfinals. The Acadia Axewomen face the UPEI Panthers at 1 p.m. while the Memorial Sea-Hawks take on the Cape Breton Capers at 3 p.m.
In men's quarterfinal action Friday evening, the Acadia Axemen will take on the Memorial Sea-Hawks at 6:30 p.m. and the StFX X-Men will face the Saint Mary's Huskies at 8:30 p.m.
On the women's side, the reigning champion Huskies and the UNB Varsity Reds earned the byes to Saturday's semifinals, where they will face off against Friday's winners at 1 and 3 p.m.
The defending champion Tigers and the UNB Varsity Reds earned the byes on the men's side. They will face the winners of Friday evening's quarterfinals Saturday at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.
On Championship Sunday, teams will compete for their respective 2017 AUS basketball championship banners and the opportunity to reach their U Sports national championships. The women's final is set for 1 p.m. and the men's for 4:30 p.m.
On the women's side, only the AUS champion is guaranteed to advance to the Arcelormittal Dofasco U Sports Women's Basketball Final 8 national championship being hosted by the University of Victoria March 9-12.
The Arcelormittal Dofasco U Sports Men's Basketball Final 8 will be hosted by the Dalhousie Tigers March 9-12 at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax. As host, Dalhousie has a guaranteed berth in the national championship. A second Atlantic conference berth will awarded to the AUS champion. Should the Tigers claim the conference title, the second berth will be awarded to the runner up of the AUS championship.
All 10 games of the championships will be webcast at AUStv.ca and broadcast live on Fibe TV (on TV1—channels 1 and 401).
Fans can visit the event website at AUSHoops.ca for standings, schedules and ticketing information.