TMU Head Coach Carly Clarke is heading to the WNBAđ¨
+ Weâre recapping a year that was defined by women rewriting history across the board in U SPORTS
Quick rundown: TMU Womenâs Basketball head coach Carly Clarke is heading to the WNBA. The reigning OUA Champion was recently named an assistant coach for the Toronto Tempo this past week.
Clarke became the head coach at TMU in 2012 and, in 13 seasons, turned the Bold into a national powerhouse, amassing a 282-138 overall record. Under Clarke, the Bold won three OUA titles (2015-16, 2021-22, 2025-26). However, Clarkeâs career at TMU was highlighted in her pursuit of national championships. The Halifax native led the Bold to six Final 8 appearances, capturing the schoolâs first national championship in 2022.
Prior to her time at TMU, the womenâs basketball program had never won an OUA championship, let alone a U SPORTS championship, since the programâs inception 42 years prior to Clarkeâs arrival at TMU. Additionally, TMU had never received a national bid preceding Clarkeâs tenure, but appeared in the national championship 6 of the 13 seasons under Clarke.
She has spent multiple summers with the Canadian national team, including two assistant-coaching stints during the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games. She has also coached the U19 national team, winning a bronze medal at the FIBA World Cup, and the U23 national team in international competition as head coach.
The impact: Clarke is the first coach to make the jump from U SPORTS directly to the WNBA and will become the first Canadian coach on the Tempoâs staff.
Whatâs next? The defending OUA champions will need a new coach. The Bold will be returning the majority of their roster, having graduated only two players this past season â a roster that includes first-team All-Canadian guard Myriam Kone and Defensive Player of the Year Hailey Franco-Deryck. They are still the likely favourites to win it all again next season, so whoâs going to take the job? It canât be just anyone.
The Tempoâs inaugural season will kick off on May 8 against the Washington Mystics, where you can catch Clarke on the sidelines.
Sask-cess story đ
Quick rundown: One of the biggest success stories to come out of U SPORTS over the past couple of seasons has been the Saskatchewan womenâs basketball program.
Saskatchewan went a perfect 20-0 during the regular season, the programâs first undefeated season since the inaugural 1971-72 season, when the team went 6-0.
The Huskiesâ win streak extended beyond 20 games, with the team not losing since November 2024. By the end of the regular season, the streak reached 50 games â one of the longest in U SPORTS history.
The comeback: Saskatchewanâs journey to the Final 8 did not come without adversity. Coming into the Canada West playoffs as the undisputed favourites, they lost their semi-final matchup to the Calgary Dinos, putting the rest of their season in jeopardy. The Huskies went on to secure a wild-card bid to nationals, giving them the opportunity to defend their national title. In three hardwood classics, they would go on to defeat both UBC and Laval en route to beating UNB in the national final to go back-to-back and claim their fourth national championship in program history.
The impact: Saskatchewanâs dominance was led by fifth-year guard Gage Grassick. This season, she averaged 15.8 PPG, 5.4 APG, and 6.8 RPG, winning Canada West MVP for the second consecutive season as well as first-team All-Canadian honours.
Going 20-0, suffering your first loss in nearly two years, and coming back to win your second straight national title is a story only elite programs such as Saskatchewan can write.
The Huskies are quickly becoming one of the great Canadian university basketball dynasties of the 2020s.
History Served đ
Quick rundown: History was made this year on the volleyball court, as multiple records were broken, headlining a historic season for U SPORTS womenâs volleyball.
Raya Surinx: The two-time U SPORTS MVP broke not one but two Canada West single-game records â in the same game.
In the Manitoba Bisons quarter-final matchup against Thompson Rivers, Surinx ended Game 1 of the three-game series with 38.5 points, setting the record for most points in a Canada West game, surpassing Iuliia Pakhomenko, who set the record in 2015. She also set the record for kills in a four-set match with 30.
Kaylee Plouffe: In her final year with Trinity Western, fifth-year outside hitter Kaylee Plouffe broke the Canada West career hitting percentage record with a career hitting percentage of .375 (minimum 800 attempts), surpassing former Spartan Liz Spear, who set the previous record of .360.
Plouffe accomplished the feat in her final regular season match against Mount Royal, finishing with 7 kills on 13 attempts, with 1 error and an impressive match hitting percentage of .462 â a fitting mark given she broke the career hitting percentage record.
Canada West womenâs volleyball did not disappoint this year.
Letlow Claimed Her Crown đ
Quick rundown: In case you missed it, last November, Queenâs forward Kiyara Letlow, against the Ottawa Gee-Gees, broke not just the womenâs U SPORTS rebound record but the all-time U SPORTS rebounding record. Yes, you heard that right, she has the most rebounds in U SPORTS menâs and womenâs history combined.
The four-time all-Canadian recorded her 1,182nd career rebound, surpassing Saskatchewanâs Sarah Crooksâ previous record of 1,181, which was set from 2002-07.
The 6â1 forward spent the first four seasons of her U SPORTS career with the Capers, capping her U SPORTS career with the Gaels for her fifth and final year. She amassed 1,143 of her 1,411 career rebounds with the Capers.
Letlowâs career rebound breakdown:
2021â22: 235 rebounds
2022â23: 333 rebounds
2023â24: 290 rebounds
2024â25: 285 rebounds
2025â26: 268 rebounds
The impact: Letlow managed to break the rebounding record in just 78 games, with the previous record being set in 102 games. Finishing her career with 1,411 rebounds, the Toronto native finished her career accomplishing this number in 96 games â still six games fewer than the previous record.
Letlow also managed to squeeze her name into the top ten scoring list, capping her career off with 1,897 career points.
Letlow finished her career averaging 19.8 points per game and 14.7 rebounds per game â a legacy and standard that may last for decades.
Whatâs the rebounding Queenâs key? Bubble tea? The pregame playlists? Tap in and watch her episode of Top 10 Necessities to find out!
Three-Peat for Brockâs Greatest đ
Quick rundown: One of the greatest U SPORTS athletes of all time, Madelyn Weinert capped off her career by winning her third consecutive OUA MVP and her third straight U SPORTS scoring title, with the cherry on top being U SPORTS Player of the Year honours.
The impact: Looking at Weinertâs U SPORTS rĂŠsumĂŠ almost doesnât feel real.
OUA West All-Rookie Team
Three-time OUA First-Team All-Star
Three-time First-Team All-Canadian
Three-time OUA Player of the Year
2026 U SPORTS Player of the Year
Three consecutive scoring titles (2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26)
6th on the all-time scoring list (2,009 PTS)
3rd on the all-time rebounds list (1,072)
4th on the all-time blocks list (169)
6th on the most field goals made list (736)
Hats off to one of, if not the greatest, U SPORTS womenâs basketball careers weâll ever see.
End of an Era đ
Quick rundown: An era of greatness has come to a close in U SPORTS womenâs basketball. Four players whose careers concluded at the end of this season have made it onto the top 30 U SPORTS womenâs basketball all-time scoring list.
The list includes three-time OUA MVP and U SPORTS Player of the Year, Madalyn Weinert. U SPORTS rebounding queen Kiyara Letlow. OUA All-Star Kiara Leveridge and former Canada West Player of the Year Jade Belmore.
Madelyn Weinert, Brock (7th - 2,009)
Kiyara Letlow, Queenâs (10th - 1,897)
Kiara Leveridge, York (19th - 1,689)
Jade Belmore, Regina (26th - 1,637)
The closest current player returning next season is Myriam Kone of TMU, who ranks 248th on the all-time list with 1,067 points.
U SPORTS basketball wonât be the same next year without these names on the court.
Quick Hits
đ MontrĂŠal womenâs hockey captured the national championship after entering the national tournament as the eighth seed. The Carabins took down the No. 1 seed UBC Thunderbirds and the No. 4 seed UNB en route to beating the No. 2 seed Concordia to win their third national title in program history.
đ UNB womenâs volleyball went undefeated in the regular season with a 20-0 record, their first undefeated season since the 1993-94 season. This was the first time an AUS womenâs volleyball team has gone 20-0 in the regular season.
đ Alberta womenâs volleyball broke a 19-year national championship drought, winning their eighth national championship title and their first title since 2007.
đââď¸ Guelph womenâs track and field won their ninth U SPORTS national championship and their seventh championship in the last eight seasons.
đââď¸ Calgaryâs Sienna McDonald set another record in her impressive U SPORTS career, setting a new U SPORTS record of 6.34 metres in long jump at nationals while also winning gold in the event.