Dal women’s basketball reflects on a heartbreaking but hopeful campaign 

As the buzzer sounded on the 2025-26 season for the Dalhousie women’s basketball team, head coach Tanya McKay was already looking ahead to next year. 

The team won five out of 20 Atlantic University Sport league games this season. The last time the Dal women’s basketball team won five games in a season was in 2018-2019; in the five seasons that followed, their most wins in a single campaign was two. 

McKay said the team’s goal since she arrived in 2022 has been to make the AUS playoffs, a goal that seemed increasingly attainable as they neared the end of the regular season. 

“It was a great group … hard working and motivated,” McKay said. 

The team saw the ascension of second-year master’s student Madelyn White, who McKay said was a quiet leader on the team. White ended the season third in AUS scoring, averaging 15.5 points per game — nearly 10 points per game more than in her first year with Dal. 

The forward started the season with few expectations, hoping to enjoy her last season and play her best. She credits the support of McKay and the coaching staff, as well as the atmosphere at home games, for her elevated play. 

“There are so many families and community members that come to watch the games, and not just students, which brings a super fun atmosphere,” she said.

White’s favourite game of the season was senior night — the final home game of the season. On Feb. 7, in front of her family and a friend who flew in to surprise her, White and the Tigers beat Memorial University 64-57. 

With that win, the team needed just one more to make the playoffs. They had one final chance to do so on Feb. 12, the last game of the regular season. But at Acadia University, White and the Tigers lost by five points.

McKay said her mind is on next season. 

“It’s hard because you don’t want to see this end, but you want to start preparing,” McKay said.

Dalhousie’s Cairo Henning won the AUS women’s basketball Rookie of the Year award. She’s excited to elevate her game this summer to become a scoring point guard rather than a pure playmaker. Henning was fourth in the AUS in assists, with 77 this season.  

Still, Henning wishes the team had achieved its goal of making the playoffs. 

“We were better than we were ranked, but we couldn’t pull it off,” said Henning. “I felt bad for my seniors.” 

While White won’t be on the team next season, she’s sticking around Halifax and is excited to watch the team. 

“Compared to last year, this team is way better,” she said. “The girls who are staying will just keep moving that forward.” 

McKay said the team still has work to do, but feels the 2026-27 class is strong and will help the team towards their goal of making the playoffs next season.