TORONTO – The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women's basketball team is set to begin its 2024-25 season on Friday, Oct. 25. The team hopes to find their way back to the top of the OUA after making the OUA semi-final in the 2024-25 season. 

Back from olympic team duties,  head coach Carly Clarke will be returning once again, eager to build the team to achieve their best potential.

"Our main goal is always just to be the best at getting better, so working on improving every day and finding ways to continue to get better," said Clarke.

The Bold have many new faces joining the team this year, some veterans and some first-year players

Forward Callie Wright will be joining the Bold this year after playing four years in the NCAA. Wright, originally from Markham, Ont. has had quite an expansive career so far. She played her freshman and sophomore seasons at the University of Memphis before transferring to Holy Cross for her junior and senior seasons. While at Holy Cross, Wright claimed back-to-back Patriots League Championship titles. Wright is joining the Bold for her fifth season at the same time her brother Landon Wright begins his university basketball career with the Bold.

Looking to end her career on a high note, Wright is ready to contribute in any way to push for the OUA title.

"For the team, I obviously want to win. I have a winning streak right now two years in a row, so hopefully we can do that here," said Wright.

Coach Clarke feels Wright will be a key addition to the team who will contribute in a lot of different ways. 

"Callie is a super smart player, obviously has some great experience from the NCAA and winning. She's a tremendous passer and has good court vision so she's doing some great stuff for us offensively there. Defensively she's super disruptive, long and has shot blocking abilities that is a great rim protector for us," said Clarke.

First-years Magdalena Vukojeva and Aislin McBurney will be joining the roster this year as well, looking to bring fresh positive energy to the team.

Coming from Grimsby Ont., Vukojeva looks to bring her versatility and grit to the team. The SG/SF joins the team knowing familiar faces. She previously trained with Corrynn Parker and played against Hailey Franco-DeRyck in the Junior Elite League (JUEL).

McBurney is a forward who comes from Ottawa looking to bring positivity and depth to the team. Before TMU she played with 2023-24 OUA Rookie of the Year Catrina Garvey during her first season with the Capital Courts. 

Garvey shared her praise for the first-year, "Honestly it's such a joy to play with her, she is probably one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. She is so hard working and she is so competitive and even though she is a rookie she's gonna make everyone better each day."

Clarke said Vukojeva and McBurney are both hard workers and great teammates who will be ready when they get their chances to hit the court.

Determined to keep her momentum going from her first season with the Bold, Garvey is eager to have a second crack at the OUA Championships.

"As a team goal, it's always to win and I feel like this year we have a good shot at the OUA finals and even making it to the U Sports Championships," said Garvey.

Coach Clarke described Garvey as a big piece of their team everywhere on the floor but she's specifically important to the team's offensive play. 

"I think we got a lot of weapons there and Garvey is a big one for us," said Clarke.

Garvey looks to continue working on herself and improving her game, "I feel like just continuing to be me and getting better myself each and every day. I also want to contribute to my team as well."

OUA All-Star Kaillie Hall is coming back this year as a graduate student, looking to have another shot at the OUA gold. Hall was a part of the team that brought home the OUA and U SPORTS championship titles in the 2021-22 season. 

Clarke thinks her experience and leadership will help to guide the team, "I think she's one of a few leaders on our team, her experience from certainly all of her years here have been huge. She's showing a great level of maturity this season, really putting all the things together that she's done over her career here, so we're thrilled she came back."

Key veteran players such as Haley Fedick and Jayme Foreman will be putting in critical minutes for the team this season. 

Clarke describes the players as important weapons on the court, who will help to contribute to the team's success.

In the preseason, the Bold produced several solid performances. They won seven of their nine pre-season games.

Clarke recognizes the difficulty of the OUA this upcoming season but is confident her team will be up for the challenge.

"The league is really competitive this year, so not getting too far ahead of ourselves, we got to get there first and that's really the focus," said Clarke.

Hoping to drive that power into the regular season, the Bold will face off against the Nipissing Lakers on the road on Friday, Oct. 25.

Tip-off to start the regular season is scheduled for 6 p.m. Catch every game of the 2024-25 campaign on OUA.tv.