One of the most dominant USPORTS players the past three seasons and a player who has had a brilliant Maritime Women’s Basketball Association career has made it official.
She is turning professional.
Allie McCarthy of the MWBA’s Fredericton Freeze has signed a deal that will see her play for Portugal’s Academica de Coimbra for the 2026-27 season.
It’s the same organization that signed former MWBA players Abby Miller and Karissa Kajorinne.
Miller and Kajorinne were part of Coimbra’s recent Division II title, a championship that propelled the organization into first division play next year.
‘We’re incredibly happy to see Allie make the next step and pursue a professional career,’ said Freeze head coach and general manager, Bram Russell. ‘Many of us in New Brunswick and certainly beyond our provincial border have watched Allie for years from winning high school championships to showcasing an incredible skillset at higher levels. She has meant a ton to the Freeze organization and the MWBA. We can’t wait to see what the next step holds.’
McCarthy graduated from the University of Ottawa where she was a star with the Ontario University Athletics’ Gee Gees.
She spent three seasons with Ottawa following a National Collegiate Athletic Association two-year tenure with the Division I University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks.
McCarthy, originally from Grand Falls, moved to New Brunswick’s Capital City with her family to begin playing with the Fredericton High Black Kats. She would cap her interscholastic career at Lincoln Prep in Ontario before making her way to Grand Forks.
The decision to join Ottawa paid dividends as she started 66 games with the Gee Gees and helped lead them to an OUA title in 2024-25 and a bronze medal at USPORTS nationals that season.
She amassed 952 career points with Ottawa, 475 of them last year where she was named a second-team OUA all-star, finishing as one of the nation’s top point-getters. She was an OUA third team all-star the previous season.
McCarthy has an uncanny rebounding knack, using her six-foot frame grab loose balls and ignite offence, garnering 350 career boards. Add 113 assists and 116 steals and you understand the impact.
She is tied for first all-time in MWBA career scoring with Freeze teammate Eva Tumwine, both with 456 points. McCarthy’s running mate in Ottawa and Freeze teammate, Bailey Russell, is fourth all-time with 433 points.
McCarthy, who signed a one-year deadl, is expected to leave for Portugal in early fall.
– Allie McCarthy of Fredericton has been a dominant MWBA player. (Fran Harris Photo)
