The NAIT women’s basketball team is competing in the 2026 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Basketball Nationals from March 18 to 21 in Montreal.

Follow along for daily updates on the Ooks’ journey.

Day three: Ooks season comes to an end with loss to Blues

NAIT’s time at nationals is officially in the books. The Ooks fell 72-66 to the host Dawson College Blues in the bronze semi-final on Friday night to eliminate them from contention for the bronze medal.

The Ooks knew coming into the game there was a chance it would be their last of the year, and they left it all out on the court.

NAIT struggled out of the gate, as they trailed 22-11 to the Blue at the end of the first and 44-29 at the half. Scoring was a problem again for the team in this one. They went 10-for-31 from the field and one-for-six from beyond the arc through two quarters.

But the team responded with a strong third quarter, outscoring the Blues 15-12 to cut the deficit to 12 heading into the final frame.

With their playoff lives on the line, they needed a lot to go their way to get a shot at completing the comeback. 

The blue and gold came close a few times and got the lead down to as few as six in the quarter, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

The Ooks watched as the clock wound down for the final time and the buzzer sounded to officially bring their season — and a special chapter in the program’s history — to a close.

Fifth-year guards Mikah Reed and Payton Neilson finished their final game in an Ooks uniform with 15 and 13 points each. Neilson also recorded five assists and three rebounds, while Reed posted four rebounds, three assists and two steals. 

NAIT connected on 25 of their 71 (35.2 per cent) shots from the floor and went six-for-21 (28.6 per cent) from three.
“We didn’t want our season to end, we wanted to live another day … but really proud of how they came back in the second half. There was absolutely no quit right into the end,” head coach Kiera Lyons said.

Despite the loss, the team didn’t let it define their season. “we’re a family and it was such a special season and a special group,” said Lyons. She encouraged the team to be grateful for the opportunity to play the game they love. “the thing that I hope that they look back and remember is just how much fun they had together.”

With the Ooks season officially finished, Lyons says she is proud of how much progress her team made over the past four seasons.

“If you would have told first year head coach Kiera that by year four we were fifth in the nation, she would be incredibly happy,” she explained.

“It says so much about the girls and how much buy-in and loyalty and commitment that they had to trying to win and trying to rebuild our program … it stings right now obviously, but you know fifth in the nation is incredible from where we started to where we’re at.”

Day two: Ooks defeat Tommies to advance to bronze semifinal

NAIT got right back into action against the St. Thomas Tommies on Thursday, rebounding from their loss on Wednesday with a commanding 74-56 win to keep their bronze medal hopes alive.

The Ooks trailed 18-15 after the first quarter, but scored 26 points in the second to close out the half up 41-35. 

Heading into the break, it was clear this was a different team from the Ooks that played the day before. The Ooks connected on 13 of their 29 shots (44.8 per cent) through the first two quarters, and a crucial part of that was Payton Neilson.

The fifth-year guard dropped 13 points and hit on all three of her three-point attempts in the quarter to push her team out in front. It was a strong response from the team’s leading scorer, who is dealing with an injury and struggled to produce in the first game of the tournament. 

Both teams tightened up defensively in the third quarter, and each scored nine points, which kept the Ooks in the lead 63-55 going to the final quarter. But the game opened back up in the fourth, and Neilson and Mikah Reed exploded for a combined 13 points to seal the deal and push the team through to the bronze semifinals.

“We looked a lot more like ourselves today,” says head coach Kiera Lyons after the game. “It was a really good team win. Everybody went and contributed, and they just fought. Things didn’t always go our way, we were mentally tough, we were physically tough. And we just leaned back into our identity and played hard.”

But ahead of the team’s next matchup, the bronze semifinal win could be “anybody’s game,” she says. “When you get to this point in the tournament, it’s about who wants it more.”

Lyons says the team will have to “continue showing up for each other” and playing together for a chance at bronze.

Neilson led the team in points with 25 and picked up seven rebounds and three assists. Reed followed with 14 points, three rebounds, two assists and four steals. Makayla Rose tallied 14 points coming off the bench, along with seven rebounds and four assists.

NAT knocked down 11 of their 21 three-point attempts — up from four the day before. The Ooks also shot 42.6 per cent from the floor.

“I’m so proud of them to be able to bounce back and be able to fight that hard. It just shows a lot of character and a lot of heart,” says Lyons.

NAIT will face the Dawson Blues today at 5 p.m. MST for a bronze semifinal match. If they win, they will advance to the bronze medal game.

Day one: Ooks trail early, fall in opening game

The Ooks began their tournament against the Géants de St-Jean from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., on Wednesday afternoon in the quarterfinal with a lopsided loss.

NAIT started out with a great first quarter, leading the Géants 15-12 into the break. But the Ooks struggled to finish shots, and eventually it cost them as they lost the lead in the early minutes of the quarter. 

Things did not get much better for the blue and gold as they struggled to regain the consistency they had at the start. NAIT ended the first half down 32-25. The momentum was leaning in the Géants’ favour, but there was still time to mount a comeback with two quarters to go.

However, it did not materialize. The Géants outscored the Ooks 34-18 down the stretch and handed NAIT a 66-43 loss to knock them out of contention for the gold medal.

The Ooks shot 26 per cent from the field — a stark contrast to their 39 per cent field goal percentage through the regular season. 

It was an even tougher night from beyond the arc for the team. NAIT shot 22 per cent (4-for-18) from the three-point line with three three-pointers coming from fifth-year guard Mikah Reed.

Reed led the team with 12 points and shot 4-for-13 from the field while picking up seven rebounds and three assists. 

Payton Neilson picked up 10 points and went 4-for-18 from the field — an uncharacteristic night from the ACAC’s second-leading scorer, who has been dealing with an injury.

“We weren’t the version of us that we needed to be to compete and win on the national stage, and that’s what happens if you show up to this tournament not ready to play,” Lyons says in a post-game interview with the Nugget. 

Lyons explains that with their “driving offensive force” being injured, everybody else needed to step up, but “they just weren’t ready for that moment.”

The team still has a chance to win a medal, though, and Lyons thinks the team can recover. “It’s about licking your wounds, and then getting back to it and being present, and recognizing that if we want to be winners, we still have an opportunity to finish the season on a high,” says Lyons. 

“But it takes heart, and it takes grit, and that’s something that we need to decide to do, and that’s something we need to decide to do now.”

The Ooks are back in action today at 11 a.m. against the St. Thomas Tommies from Fredericton in the bronze quarterfinal. 

Feature image by James Paddle-Grant / CCAA