As the Maritime Women’s Basketball Association prepares for Season IV in May, we’re going to look back on a wildly successful and competitive season that was 2024.
We’ll start with a recap of the Royale player of the week award winners from last season.
Six players earned the weekly nod including Elizabeth Iseyemi of Dartmouth/Cole Harbour’s Lake City 56ers, Justine Colley-Leger of Halifax Thunder, Lauren Rainford of Miramichi Hericanes, Rachel Farwell of Saint John’s Port City Fog, Bailey Russell of Fredericton Freeze and Leonie Elbert of Moncton Mystics.
Iseyemi left an outstanding USPORTS career with Acadia University Axewomen and the 56ers to sign a professional contract in Germany. She is enjoying success as a rookie with Heidelberg in Germany.
Colley-Jones is a well-decorated basketball star at the local and national levels. A former star with Saint Mary’s University Huskies, she is a member of the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame. Colley-Leger was a two-time Atlantic University Sport MVP, four time All-Canadian, five-time AUS first team all-star and appeared in over 40 games with Canada’s national program.
Rainford is the reigning MWBA MVP after her tremendous 2024 season with the expansion Hericanes. She continued to star with the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers this season, her squad falling in the AUS final to Saint Mary’s.
Russell exploded onto the MWBA scene last summer after her first season in Ontario University Athletics with the University of Ottawa Gee Gees. She continued to improve with Ottawa this season and is off to USPORTS Final 8 this week with Ottawa.
Elbert, a former professional from Germany, certainly made her mark on the MWBA with dynamic scoring and intense desire on the floor. She was an assistant coach with the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association’s Crandall University Chargers of Moncton this past season.
– Elizabeth Iseyemi is playing professional in German this season (Bob Pettipas Photo)