She allowed herself a slight smile, but that was it at the time.
Courtney Donaldson had just broken the all-time Maritime Women’s Basketball Association scoring record, but her Lake City 56ers were in a major battle with the Fredericton Freeze when she sunk the bucket that set the mark.
‘I honestly wasn’t thinking about the record that much at all,’ said Donaldson, a Kelowna, BC, product. ‘My main focus on the weekend was winning two basketball games and having while doing it. In the back of my mind, I knew what was at stake, but the way I looked at it was it was going to come sooner or later, so I wasn’t in a rush. I just went out and played my normal game.’
That she did.
Along with MacKenzie Smith, Donaldson’s numbers help defeat the Freeze, 75-70 and the Dartmouth/Cole Harbour-based 56ers moved to 7-1, atop the seven-team circuit.
Donaldson’s offensive exploits have her at 409 career points entering the season’s fifth week.
She surpassed former record holder Karissa Kajorinne, who scored 400 in her two seasons in the MWBA. Kajorinne would go on to play professional in Portugal after leaving the circuit where she played for the Windsor Edge (now Lake City) and Halifax Thunder.
Kaylee Kilpatrick, a former MWBA MVP with the Port City Fog of Saint John, is third all-time with 396 points. Kilpatrick spent three seasons in the MWBA after a long European pro career and is now teaching in New Zealand.
Present-day player Lauren Rainford – the reigning league MVP with the Miramichi Her-icanes – is rocketing up the leader board as well, sitting fourth with 337 and counting.
Allie McCarthy of the Fredericton Freeze is fifth with 321, former Moncton Mystics’ star Jenna Jones sixth at 318 and Jasmine Parent of the Halifax Hornets is next with 317 and counting.
Abby Miller of the Her-Icanes is eighth with 302, Fredericton’s Eva Tumwine ninth at 291 and present-day Freeze and former Fog stalwart Courtney Thompson is 10th with 280.
Donaldson took some time to savour the mark after Lake City won both its weekend games and has become a force to be reckoned with.
‘I’ve loved this league from the very start, so it means a lot to me to have this accomplishment for now,’ said the former Saint Mary’s University Husky and University of Calgary Dino. ‘I like how the league keeps track of the numbers so you can push yourself to beat records. I have no doubt someone will beat mine one day, so that’s all good. It creates that individual competition within the league. It’s nice to hold it for now. Records are meant to be broken.’
Donaldson appeared in 94 career USPORTS games with Saint Mary’s and Calgary, earning a second team Atlantic University Sport all-star selection in 2023-24.
She is a key part of Lake City’s drive to the top.
‘Our team is extremely talented and I cannot express how much fun I have playing with these women,’ said Donaldson. ‘After coming back and not playing for a year, it created a whole new appreciation and love for the game of basketball. The women I play with are a huge part of that. I can’t express how thankful I am to be on a team with them. I’m having a blast playing at this level.’
This time a year ago, Donaldson was hoping to make the jump to the professional level in Europe.
She battled through the Legacy Cup championship in Halifax, but barely played in a final loss to the Thunder due to a nagging foot injury.
The foot is still not 100 per cent and it’s curtailed her push to play across the pond.
‘The pro game really isn’t on my mind anymore and that’s unfortunate, but my foot has never healed properly,’ she said. ‘The MWBA is the only basketball league I’ll be playing in for the foreseeable future and that’s why I’m so grateful to have this league to play in. I can still play at a high level without leaving the country.’
Donaldson and the 56ers will continue the push for first place and the first-round bye it would bring in the Nova Scotia Division.
The 56ers are off until June 4 when it visits Thunder and will wrap up their regular season June 5, visiting the Hornets.
Two games left for Donaldson to pad her lead atop the all-time scoring list.
– Courtney Donaldson is the new all-time leading scorer in the MWBA (Bob Pettipas Photo)