The CMU Women's Basketball program is very pleased to announce the commitment of Keara Howden for the 2024-25 MCAC and NIAC seasons. The Vincent Massey Collegiate and Evolve Club signing will add more punch on the boards to the Blazers lineup this coming year.
Joining her high school and club teammate Gina Maher in signing with the Blazers this offseason, Howden will be the forward in the front court and back court duo, bringing with her plenty of championship and big-game experience. In her grade ten season Howden and the Trojans were MHSAA "AAAA" Provincial Championship finalists. Her two varsity seasons at Massey her team reached the Provincial Championship Final Fours, narrowly edged by Garden City for the chance to play in the title game on both occasions. Of the four tournaments her Massey squad entered this season, the team medalled in all four, including two tournament titles at the Sisler Spartan Classic, and the Buckeye Classic at Miles Macdonell. The team also headed West in December for a Pacific Coast showdown with some of the top teams in the Vancouver area. Here at home, Howden was named a MHSAA "AAAA" Graduating All-Star, earning her right to play with and against some of the top high school competition in Manitoba. Leading up to her Graduating All-Star selection, Howden was also named player of the game in a number of her team's tournaments over the past seasons, and also earned Defensive Player of the Tournament in Brandon in her grade eleven year, hinting at the strong presence in the paint the Blazers are getting, not to mention leadership on and off the court from the VMC captain.
Howden's club career started with Wolves, but the power forward and post switched over to Evolve for the past two club seasons, reuniting her with teammate Gina Maher in playing alongside some of the top talent here in Manitoba. The team won the Peg City Championships this past November as well as both the spring and fall edition of the Manitoba club basketball championships in 2023. She's appeared at a number of showcases including weekends in Calgary, Saskatoon, Montreal, and Toronto, rubbing shoulders with the top recruits of her class from across Canada.
Not only has Howden matched up with the best in Canada, but in summer of 2023 she represented Manitoba at the North American Indigenous Games in Halifax, with her team beating out competition from across the continent to take home gold at the event. A captain of the province's squad under head coach Danielle Daniels, the team defeated the representatives from Wisconsin in a tight semi-final matchup, and then rolled team Ontario to take the title. Howden joins several other Blazers signings this spring who represented Manitoba at NAIG 2023, including Levi Johnston of men's volleyball, and Melanie Giesbrecht of women's volleyball.
Blazers women's basketball's third signing of the offseason is very familiar with the Blazers first signing Gina Maher, and faced off with the Blazers' second signing Caeli Palmer of Garden City Collegiate in the past three MHSAA "AAAA" Provincial Championships. The trio will add plenty of skill and championship pedigree up and down the court to a program hungry for another taste of MCAC and NIAC glory. The team will head West to test themselves against Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference competition at Briercrest College and Medicine Hat prior to the tipoff of their seasons here in Manitoba.
The Blazers Women's Basketball program is looking to rebound this season after their run of five consecutive MCAC title wins came to an end this past February. Plenty of talent on the team and a revamped NIAC and MCAC schedule that sees the St Boniface Rouges enter the American conference looks to make for another exciting campaign both here in Manitoba as well as in the Northern United States.