Inducted in 2024 Category: Team
Just three years into Women’s varsity sports existing at Saint Mary’s, the 1976-77 Huskies Women’s Basketball team reached the pinnacle of Atlantic Canadian women’s basketball, winning the 1977 AUWBC Championship.
Coached by legendary Huskies men’s basketball alumni Mickey Fox, with support from assistant coach Kathy Mullane and manager Barb Hart, the Huskies championship lineup consisted of: Cindy Britten, Nancy Collins, Elizabeth Hampden, Jody Hayes, Donna Hobin, Debbie Lawrence, Darlene Mossman, Debbie Steele, Colleen Thomson and Carol Turney.
Saint Mary’s came out of the gate strong, with a 96-24 win over Mount Allison. They continued to dominate their Atlantic competition throughout the season, finishing the regular season with a perfect 14-0 record, while outscoring their opponents by an average of 34.7 points per game.
The Huskies continued their momentum into the Atlantic Championships, defeating the UNB REDS 52-40 in the semifinal, before taking down their crosstown rivals the Dalhousie Tigers 64-48 to win the first Atlantic Championship in Saint Mary’s women’s varsity sports history. The team then qualified for the CIAU Nationals, where they won one game, but ultimately lost the bronze medal game.
On the court, the Huskies were led by the star duo of Carol Tuney-Loos and Donna Hobin, who were each named AUWFC First Team All-Stars. Both players joined the Huskies fresh off competing at the 1976 Montreal Olympics as members of the first Canadian Women’s Olympic Basketball team.
In the 1976-77 season, Donna Hobin averaged 21 points and 9 rebounds per game and was named an AUWFC First Team All-Star. Fellow Olympian Carol Turney-Loos led the nation with an average of 30 points and 11 rebounds per game and was named an AUWFC First Team All-Star and Saint Mary’s Female Athlete of the Year. On Dec. 3, 1976, Turney-Loos scored 50 points against Mount Allison – a national single game scoring record that wouldn’t be broken for 18 years, and still a Saint Mary’s record. In 2020, Turney-Loos was recognized as one of U SPORTS Top 100 women’s basketball players of all-time.
As we celebrate 50 years of Women in Varsity Sport at Saint Mary’s, we pay tribute to the 1976-77 Huskies – the first Huskies women’s varsity team to win a league championship.
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