AUS Women's Basketball Awards and All-Stars Announced

March 1, 2012 (HALIFAX, N.S.) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2011-12 AUS women's basketball all-stars and major award winners as selected by the conference's eight head coaches following regular season play.

Second-year Cape Breton Capers guard Cassie Cooke was named the Atlantic University Sport most valuable player, Thursday night.

Other AUS major award winners announced during the awards banquet at the StFX Charles V. Keating Centre in Antigonish, N.S., were StFX's Vanessa Pickard of Riverview, N.B., who was named rookie of the year; Dalhousie's Anna von Maltzahn of Halifax, N.S., who was selected as the defensive player of the year; Dalhousie's Rachael Harrison of Hamilton, Ont., who is the AUS Tracy MacLeod Award Nominee; and Acadia head coach Bev Greenlaw, who was named the AUS coach of the year.

STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Melissa Foster, University of New Brunswick

Fourth-year UNB Varsity Reds forward Melissa Foster is the 2012 recipient of the AUS student-athlete community service award.

A native of Moncton, N.B., Foster started in all 20 games for the V-Reds this season, averaging 4.3 points per contest. She is also a three-time Academic all-Canadian with a 3.7 Cumulative GPA in 3.5 years at UNB

Melissa currently coaches the Junior V-Reds mini girls basketball team, volunteers at local community basketball practices, and has participated in the 'Read With The Reds' Program. She volunteers weekly at the local hospital and is the Vice President of the UNB Athlete's Council.

Foster also found time to participate in the Terry Fox Run, the CIBC Run for the Cure, Operation Christmas Child, the Salvation Army Adopt-a-Family program, and UNB's very successful 'Shoot For The Cure' initiative where she was instrumental in rallying her teammates to raise over $4000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Melissa's most impressive accomplishment has been her work with the UNB Right to Play Club. She founded the club last September and has already raised over $4,000 through various fundraising events, with a goal of raising $10,000 by May to create a safe play space in an underprivileged area in the world. Melissa was one of the few Right to Play leaders from across the country chosen to attend an international Right to Play conference in Rwanda this summer.

"I could not be more proud of Mel," says UNB head coach Jeff Speedy. "She has started every game for us, has been a fantastic leader, and has done so much in the community it makes me tired just thinking about it. While doing all of this, she has been an A student and an Academic all-Canadian. She is a very caring, unselfish individual and a truly amazing teammate."

FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS AND ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

The Atlantic University Sport first and second team all-stars were also announced Thursday, along with this year's all-rookie team.

First Team All-Stars:
Cassie Cooke, Cape Breton University (2nd year - Westminster, MD.)
Justine Colley, Saint Mary's University (3rd year - East Preston, N.S.)
Emma Duinker, Acadia University (5th year - Cambridge, N.S.)
Ally Forsey, Memorial University (4th year - St. John's, Nfld.)
Claire Colborne, University of New Brunswick (2nd year - Calgary, Alta.)

Second Team All-Stars:
Jahlica Kirnon, Cape Breton University (5th year - Toronto, Ont.)
Vanessa Pickard, StFX University (1st year - Riverview, N.B.)
Keisha Brown , Dalhousie University (3rd year - Halifax, N.S.)
Stefanie Chapman, Acadia University (4th year - St. Margaret's Bay, N.S.)
Susanne Canvin, Saint Mary's University (5th year - Charlottetown, P.E.I.)

All-Rookie Team:
Vanessa Pickard, StFX University (Riverview, N.B.)
Tessa Stammberger, Dalhousie University (Kensington, P.E.I.)
Laura Langille, Saint Mary's University (Bedford, N.S.)
Megan Robinson, Memorial University (Waterloo, Ont.)
Colleen Daly, University of New Brunswick (Ancaster, Ont.)

The 2012 Subway Atlantic University Sport women's basketball championship gets under way this weekend at StFX University in Antigonish, N.S.. Live webcasts of all five games of the championship will be available at www.ssncanada.ca.

The winner will be crowned AUS champions and will advance to the 2012 CIS women's basketball championship, March 16-19, hosted by the University of Calgary.

Note: The runner-up will have a second opportunity to qualify for the CIS women's basketball championship and will travel to the University of Ottawa to participate in a CIS Eastern Regional event.

For more information on the CIS championship format, visit http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wbkb/index.

The 2012 Subway Atlantic University Sport women's basketball championship schedule is as follows:

Friday, March 4th
Quarter-final #1: Memorial (4th) vs. StFX (5th), 6:00pm
Quarter-final #2: Saint Mary's (3rd) vs. Dalhousie (6th), 8:00pm

Saturday, March 5th
Semifinal #1: Acadia (1st) vs. Winner of QF #1, 6:00pm
Semifinal #2: Cape Breton (2nd) vs. Winner of QF #2, 8:00pm

Sunday, March 6th
Championship Game: Semifinal Winners, 2:00pm