CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Jenna Mae Ellsworth was a double winner Wednesday as the Atlantic University Sport announced its major award winners for the women’s basketball regular season.
The UPEI Panthers’ five-foot-10 guard was named the MVP and defensive player of the year as selected by the conference’s eight coaches.
The fourth-year science student from Charlottetown led the Panthers with 20.5 point per game this season while also averaging 5.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game for the first-place Panthers (17-3).
Ellsworth is the third player in UPEI history to earn the conference MVP award and the first since 1998-99 when former Panthers standout Jennifer Johnston won. Paula Edwards was the first to earn the honour in 1985-86.
It was the third straight year a Panther has earned the top defensive player honours after teammate Carolina Del Santo earned the award the past two seasons.
Ellsworth was also named a first team all-star for the first time in her career after being a second team member for three straight seasons. She won the conference rookie of the year honours in 2016-17 after a stellar career with the Colonel Gray Colonels high school team.
Ellsworth has 1,231 career points to sit tied for second in UPEI school history with a year of eligibility remaining.
Third-year Panthers guard Reese Baxendale of Sussex, N.B., joined Ellsworth as a first team all-star while Lauren Rainford from Toronto made the all-rookie team.
Former Panthers bench boss Mark English earned coach of the year honours with his hometown Memorial Sea-Hawks.
Other award winners were Cape Breton’s Hailey MacLeod (rookie of the year) and UNB’s Mikaela Dodig (student-athlete community service award).
Acadia’s Kelsey Rice is the AUS’s Tracy MacLeod award nominee. The award recognizes a player who demonstrates determination, perseverance and unwavering spirit to continue playing the game of basketball.
Elijah Miller, a Toronto guard with the UPEI Panthers men's basketball team, made the all-rookie team after averaging 15.3 points, 5.3 assists and four rebounds during his 20-game season.
