Angie Johnson, Coleen Dufresne and Chris Critelli Recognized as part of the USPORT Top 100 Players

USPORTS has announced its initial Top 100 women’s basketball players of the century which includes 3 with Manitoba connections.

In celebration of the centennial anniversary of U SPORTS women’s basketball, the Top 100 – chosen by a committee of U SPORTS women’s basketball coaches and partners – will be unveiled beginning Thursday, Feb. 6, marking the 100th anniversary of the first Canadian university women’s contest between the Queen’s Gaels and McGill Martlets on Feb. 6, 1920.


“Selecting a group of individuals to represent excellence in your conference or league is always a difficult task,” said Ryan Thorne, president of the U SPORTS women’s basketball coaches’ association and head coach of the Martlets. “This experience has shown me that there have been some amazing young women, who have represented our institutions well through basketball that have gone on to become remarkable women in life. Just researching the stories and receiving the feedback from coaches of different eras, was eye-opening. I am grateful to have been a part of this process and hope that the next century is just as fruitful.”

Kicking off the campaign, players who competed from 1930-1980 were initially announced, with players from the following four decades (1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s) revealed over the course of the following four weeks leading up to the 2020 U SPORTS Final 8 Basketball Championships in Ottawa. In addition, special features highlighting the incredible careers of select players will also be posted to USPORTS.ca. The campaign culminates with the announcement of the 2020 Nan Copp U SPORTS Player of the Year at the All-Canadian Gala on Mar. 4.

Players that have a Manitoba connection on the initial list released include...

Angie Johnson Straub was a 4-time 1st-team all-GPAC and led the Wesmen to 3 GPAC championships. She also led them to provincial senior women's and national junior women's championships.  She is a member of the Manitoba Sport, Manitoba Basketball and Manitoba High School Halls of Fame.



Coleen Dufresne came to Manitoba after a successful career as a player at the University of Ottawa and with Canada’s National Team. After coaching the University of New Brunswick, she accepted the head coaching position with the University of Manitoba Bisons Women’s team in 1984, a position she held for 17 years. In those years, she established the Bison women’s program as one of the best in Canada, winning three CIAU/CIS National Championships - 1988, 1996 and 1997 and two silver and two bronze medals. She was twice named National Coach of the Year in 1983 and 1998 and conference all-star coach seven times.

Chris Critelli (5th from left in the above team photo) is one of the most accomplished players in Canadian history. She helped UW to the 75 GPAC title & is the only player to win national titles in the NCAA (Old Dominion) and Canada (Laurentian). She went on to play pro and later coach the Brock Badgers

Members of the Top 100 will then be honoured at the Final 8 during the national championship final, hosted jointly by Carleton University, University of Ottawa and Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.

Top 100 U SPORTS Women’s Basketball Players of the Century

This list will be updated weekly leading up to the national championship
Source: https://usports.ca/en/sports/basketball/f/news/2020/02/1578750320/u-sports-to-unveil-top-100-women-s-basketball-players-of-the-century