There were so many remarkable performances in 2025 and followers of the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association can expect many more storylines with playoffs on the line this week and into the weekend.
Before counting all the team stories and post-season scenarios, let’s take a spin around the MWBA leaderboard and see who performed top five individual performances from the 10-game regular campaign.
There was a tie atop the scoring leaderboard, but Lauren Rainford of the Miramichi Her-Icanes earns the nod. She tied with MacKenzie Smith of Dartmouth/Cole Harbour’s Lake City 56ers with 18.4 points per game. Rainford appeared in all 10 games and scored 184 points. Smith played in seven outings and amassed 129 points over those games.
Bailey Russell of the Fredericton Freeze was a close third at 17.3 points an outing. Grace Lancaster of Miramichi finished fourth and Eva Tumwine of the Freeze was fifth at 15.7 PPG.
Russell and Lindy Alcorn of the Moncton Mystics paced all players in rebounds, securing 9.4 boards per game. Abby Miller of Miramichi was third at 9.3 and Fredericton’s Allie McCarthy fourth at 9.2. Tumwine rounds out the Top Five with 7.7 rebounds a game.
Three players shared top billing on ball sharing with Rainford, Russell and Aki Kobayashi of Lake City all averaging 4.4 assists a game. Courtney Donaldson of Lake City was fourth at 3.9 while McCarthy and Alaina McMillan of Halifax Thunder tied for fifth with 3.8 dishes a game.
The good hands award went to McCarthy, averaging 2.8 steals a game. Rainford was second at 2.7 and Katelyn Power of the Halifax Hornets and Katie Donahoe of Miramichi tied for third at 2.6. Vanessa Soffee of the Freeze was fifth with 2.2 thefts a game.
McKinley Bezanson of Saint John’s Port City Fog paced all players in minutes played per game. She averaged 33 minutes and 58 seconds for the Fog. Moncton’s Kate Fillmore was second at 33:46 seconds and Hornets’ Amanda Pearcey was third with 32:30 seconds. Russell finished fourth at 32:13 seconds and Rainford fifth, on the floor 31:30 seconds per game.
On the team side, both Lake City and Miramichi finished tied atop the standings with 8-2 marks.
With the unbalanced schedule that comes with seven teams, Lake City earned the pennant thanks to a head-to-head win over the Her-icanes. That win was actually the first game of the season.
Thunder was third at 6-4 and Fredericton fourth with a 5-5 mark.
Hornets came in fifth at 4-6 and Moncton was sixth at 2-8. Port City finished 1-9.
The playoffs in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick used different formats with three teams in the Bluenose Province and four in the Picture Province.
The playoffs open Thursday when Lake City hosts the Hornets.
That game goes Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Zatzman Sportsplex in Dartmouth.
The winner moves directly to the PRO•LINE Legacy Cup final four championship in Fredericton, June 21-22, at the Richard J. Currie Center.
The loser gets a second chance and will play Thunder on Friday night for the right to travel to Fredericton.
Moncton will face Fredericton in New Brunswick playoff action next Sunday at 7 p.m., at Fredericton High School. Miramichi hosts Port City in the other playoff Saturday.
The winners go straight to the final four.
– Fredericton’s Bailey Russell has her fingerprints all over the MWBA leaderboards. (Fran Harris Photo)