Acadia Axewomen Haley McDonald (Port Williams, N.S.) had a game for the history books.
McDonald, a five-foot-five sharpshooting point-guard, drilled 18-of-33 shots, nailed 5-of-11 three-pointers and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line to set the U Sports women’s basketball playoff single game record with an incredible 51 point performance.
McDonald’s scoring outburst ties the all-time single-game record set by Winnipeg’s Sandra Carroll on February 17th, 1994 against the Regina Cougars.
The third year junior product of Nova Scotia’s Horton Griffins added four rebounds and two assists in 39 minutes to propel Acadia 88-84 past the No. 2 ranked UPEI Panthers in the semi-finals of the 2019 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Championships.
“I’m so happy, my team (reaction) says it all, they are the best. I had a blast, today was amazing, the crowd was amazing, there is nothing like this feeling.” a teary-eyed McDonald emotionally shared her feelings after the game.
McDonald was named AUS championship tournament MVP as she followed up her record-breaking game with a 29-point, 10 assists to lead the Axewomen to back-to-back AUS titles.
A first-team conference All-Star, she finished third in the country in scoring with a 23.3 scoring average.
Other U Sports players to score 50 points in a game include Lakehead Thunderwolves’ Guard Jylisa Williams (Atlanta, GA) Saint Mary’s Huskies’ Carol Turney and Bishop Gaiters Deb Husband.
Williams a Canadian College Athletic Association (CCAA) 2012-13 and U Sports/CIS 2014-15 player of the year went off for 50-points against the Toronto Varsity Blues on February 6th 2015.
Turney, previously held the AUS record with her 50 points on December 3, 1976 against Mount Allison and Huband also hit the 50 point mark on July 1st 1979.
McGill’s Sylvia Sweeney 41 point outing against the Sir George Williams on January 16, 1974 stands as the current Réseau du Sport Etudiant du Québec (RSEQ) scoring record.
