When the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association launched in 2022, a number of professional players who had continued their careers in Europe, found their way into the then fledgling league.
Names such as former MWBA MVP Kaylee Kilpatrick, Ali Berry, Hannah Brown, Vanessa Pickard, Haley McDonald and more appeared amongst the names of those who had earned a living playing the game overseas.
The MWBA welcomed those players with open arms and the trend continues to this day.
‘It’s always been exciting to see women return home from overseas and want to play in our league and we have had the opportunity to watch so many of them excel and be leaders amongst our teams,’ said MWBA commissioner, Jen McKenzie of Dartmouth, NS. ‘Our league did not train and develop these players through formative and competitive university years, but the fact they want to play in a highly-competitive surrounding with their peers and rivals has been outstanding for the MWBA.’
The MWBA has indeed captured the eye of a number of European teams and leagues.
A team in Portugal, for instance, has three former MWBA players and over the past season and into 2026-27, more familiar names are inking their names to contracts.
Former Halifax Thunder and Lake City 56er Tiffany Reynolds is now with Portugal FC Coimbroes/Rebau. Reynolds represented Jamaica at the recent FIBA women’s Caribbean championship in Guyana, averaging 17.8 points per game and 5.8 rebounds an outing in that competition. She played professionally in Nicaragua with Tipitapa before moving to Portugal in that nation’s first division.
Reynolds is 27th all-time on the MWBA scoring ladder with 229 points.
Former Port City Fog of Saint John stalwart Hailey MacLeod is in Romania with CS Universitatea de Coimbras. She played the 2025-26 season with Hibernians in the Maltese Women’s League where she averaged 17.5 points per game. MacLeod was named to the all-import team in that circuit. MacLeod was part of Port City’s lineup when it lost in the PROLINE Legacy Cup final to Thunder in 2023 at Saint John’s TD Station.
Back in Portugal, the MWBA connection runs strong.
Allie McCarthy of the Fredericton Freeze is tied for the league’s all-time scoring mark of 456 points (with teammate Eva Tumwine) and inked her first pro deal with Associacao Academica de Coimbra. She will be teammates with Abby Miller, who played for Moncton Mystics and Miramichi HerIcanes and Karissa Kajorinne, who toiled with Lake City and Thunder.
Kajorinne remains sixth all-time in MWBA scoring with 400 points. Miller is 11th with 322.
Both won MWBA titles during their career, Kajorinne with Thunder in 2023 and Miller with Miramichi in 2025.
They were part of a championship team in Portugal’s second division last season.
Alaina McMillan played with the Thunder and Halifax Hornets and played professionally in France. She is 12th all-time in MWBA scoring with 319 points.
Elizabeth Beals-Iseyemi has played with Lake City and Thunder, winning a title this past season for the Halifax squad.
She is ninth all-time in leading scorers with 381 points.
MacKenzie Smith is with the Caledonia Gladiators for 2026-27.
The former Lake City stalwart opened her pro career in Greece, where she hung 12.6 points per game for Anothosis Volou in the A1 Division. She would move to Australia’s NBL 1 South with Eltham Wildcards and had the exact PPG mark she had in Greece.
She joins the Gladiators, based in East Kilbride, Scotland, playing in the Super League Basketball.
Smith averaged 18.4 points per game for the 56ers during her 2025 season.
If you’re aware of other former and present-day MWBAers playing professional basketball, do not hesitate to reach out to us at mwba.league@gmail.com
– Hailey MacLeod, formerly of Port City Fog, has signed in Romania to play pro this season. (DW Photo)
– MWBA statistical data compiled by Allan April
– The MWBA also references Martin Timmerman’s USPORTS site for some player information
