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Hodgson, Works and McKenzie major hoops winners

Colley, Pitfield and Legge also take home the hardware at AUS women's award banquet

The Cape Breton Post
By T.J. Colello
Cape Breton Post
SYDNEY — Make it two in a row for Cape Breton University Capers superstar Kelsey Hodgson.

Awards Winners

The fifth-year guard from Fredericton won her second AUS women's basketball most valuable player award as the conference's major award winners were announced, Thursday. Hodgson received her award at the league's award banquet at the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre.

The awards were held on the eve of the Capers hosting the 2010 Subway AUS Women's Basketball Championship. The tournament opens with quarter-final play today at Sullivan Field House.

"I was kind of surprised," she said. "We did have a great season, but there's a lot of great players in the league now. Some who have come in and Alise (Brown) came back, so it's a big surprise to me."

The two-time Canadian Interuniversity Sport all-Canadian is CBU's all-time scoring leader, after finishing with 1,588 career points, eclipsing Janice Moseychuck's former school record of 1,498. Moseychuck is the only other Caper to be named MVP, winning the award in 1995-96.

Hodgson, who led the country in scoring again with 22.1 points per game, was also the best in the AUS with 3.0 steals per game, a 90.4 per cent free-throw percentage and 52 three-pointers. With her AUS MVP nod, Hodgson is now the conference's candidate for the Nan Copp Award as the country's outstanding player of the year.

On the defensive side of the court, another Capers player was honoured. Nicole Works took home the top defensive honour after leading the AUS with 4.7 assists per game and was second in the conference with a 2.2 assist/turnover ratio.

Works is the third Capers player to win the award. Maureen Murrin in 2004-05 and Tamara Alleyne in 2006-07 were also honoured.

"I think a lot of it is credited to the whole team," said Works. "Fabe focuses a lot on team defence, so it's not really just me, it's everyone. It was just me who was selected I guess."

Capers head coach Fabian McKenzie, for the third time in his 11 seasons at CBU, was named the AUS coach of the year. He also won the award in 2001-02 and 2005-06 and was named the CIS coach of the year in 2005-06, the last AUS coach to do so.

"It's nice to receive an honour like coach of the year — it means you get some respect from your peers," said McKenzie. "The coach of the year award is basically what your staff puts into it and what your players do. If I don't have Kelsey Hodgson, Karmen Brown, Nikki Works, those kids, I don't get this award."

A player hot on the heels of Hodgson in the league scoring race was Saint Mary's Huskies guard Justine Colley. Colley was named the conference rookie of the year after averaging 20.9 points per game. That's the best average for a rookie in the country.

"It's great to be recognized, but more so, I'd like to recognize my teammates who helped me get these awards," said Colley. "Without them, I wouldn't be in this position to be honest."

For her work both in the classroom and in the community, fourth-year forward Alex Legge of the Dalhousie Tigers was given the student-athlete and community service award. Also, fifth-year forward Laure Pitfield of the Huskies is the AUS nominee for the Tracy MacLeod Award, given to the player that demonstrates determination, perseverance and unwavering spirit.

tjcolello@cbpost.com