QUEBEC CITY – Amélie Collin - a fifth-year guard for the University of Calgary Dinos - has been named the U SPORTS Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year. The announcement was made Wednesday night at the All-Canadian Gala in Quebec City, host of the 2026 Sunlife U SPORTS Women's Basketball Final 8 Presented by Michelob and Hilton Québec. 

In addition to Collin's award, Brock's Madelyn Weinert was named the national Player of the Year. Western guard Sydney Cowan captured the Kathy Shields Award as Rookie of the Year, while McGill forward Emilia Diaz-Ruiz earned the Sylvia Sweeney Award for Student-Athlete Community Service. Queen's guard Bella Gauden is the winner of the Tracy MacLeod Award for her courage in overcoming adversity. Finally, Saskatchewan bench boss Lisa Thomaidis earned the Peter Ennis Award as Fox 40 Coach of the Year.

It was a record-breaking senior season in every sense of the expression for Dinos' fifth-year guard Amélie Collin. The Rimouski, Que., product, who has been a starter from day one on the UCalgary campus, reset a handful of program and Canada West records while leading the Dinos to yet another outstanding season on the court.

The 5-foot-9 guard broke the program record for career steals (259) in the first half of the season before taking down both the Canada West records for career steals (previously 308, Collin graduates with 322) and steals in a single season (98). Collin also finished tied in leading the team in scoring this season with 12.1 points per game, while also leading the entire conference and ranking sixth nationally in three-point shooting – connecting at a 39.3 per cent clip.

Led by their senior's defensive dominance, the Dinos have clamped down as a team during the home stretch of the regular season all the way to this year's conference crown. Calgary has allowed more than 60 points just once during this postseason run, holding their final three opponents - the top-three seeds in this year's Canada West Tournament - to an average of 54.0 points per game. 

Collin is the first Dino to be named the U SPORTS Defensive Player of the Year. 

Other nominees for this award were Hailey Franco DeRyck (Toronto Metropolitan), Eve Atchampone (Bishop's) and Shannon Neita (STFX).

The Dinos now turn their attention to the court, where their Final 8 tips off Thursday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. MT with a quarterfinal showdown with McGill.

Tickets for all 11 games can be purchased at usportstickets.ca and the entire championship will be webcast live on CBC digital platforms in English and Radio-Canada's digital platforms in French. 

-UC-