Bisons set to celebrate Terri-Lee Johannesson's CW Hall of Fame induction

Nov. 3, 2024 - The Manitoba Bisons women's basketball team will be honouring one of the greatest student athletes in school history at their home opener on Sunday afternoon, as they celebrate T.L (Terri-Lee) Johannesson's induction into the Canada West Hall of Fame's Class of 2024-25.

Sunday's ceremony will be part of the Bisons home opening celebrations as they welcome the Brandon Bobcats for a 2 p.m. CT tip-off at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Johannesson made an immediate impact upon joining the Bisons women’s basketball team in the early nineties, with her MVP level play leading the Bisons to back-to-back national championships in 1996 and 1997.

She was a three-time CIAU All-Canadian and was named the national championship tournament MVP in '96 and '97, helping the Bisons become one of just nine teams in U SPORTS history to repeat as national champions.

Johannesson is the second Bisons women's basketball alum to earn Canada West Hall of Fame status, joining her head coach and former Bisons Director of Athletics, Coleen Dufresne.

Canada West unveiled its entire Hall of Fame Class of 2024-25 earlier in September. Individual inductee spotlights will continue throughout the season.

Fans can view all previous Hall of Fame inductees on the Canada West Hall of Fame website.

T.L. (Terri-Lee) Johannesson - Athlete Category

From the moment she stepped on the court, Manitoba Bisons guard T.L. (Terri-Lee) Johannesson made an immediate and lasting impact, leading the program to back-to-back national championships in 1996 and 1997.

A highly touted recruit after playing for high school provincial champion Dakota Collegiate, Johannesson burst onto the university scene and was named the GPAC Rookie of the Year in 1991. It was the first of countless conference and national accomplishments in her career. She was a 3-time CIAU All-Canadian in 1994-95, 1995-96, and 1997-98, and the national championship tournament MVP in '96 and '97, helping the Bisons become one of just nine teams in U SPORTS history to repeat as national champions.

A consistent scoring threat, Johannesson won the GPAC scoring title in her graduating year in 1996-97, setting a program record by averaging 26.2 points per game. She was named the CIAU Female Athlete of the Year that season, becoming the first Bison to win the prestigious award.

She’s also the only player in school history to average over 20 points per game in more than one season, doing so in 1996 (21.6 PPG, fourth-most points per game in school history) as well as 1997.

Overall, Johannesson ranks in the top ten in six different school stats categories.

She was deservingly honoured as Manitoba’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1996 and 1997, one of just seven individuals to earn the prestigious honour twice in the 61-year history of the award.

She was inducted into the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

ABOUT THE CANADA WEST HALL OF FAME

For the last century, organized university sport has been a central part of the student experience at institutions across Western Canada. Beginning with the University of Manitoba capturing the first Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WCIAU) men's hockey banner in 1919-20, student-athletes have been competing to reach their full potential in sport and the classroom, while enriching campus life. 

To commemorate 100 years of university sport across Western Canada, the Canada West Hall of Fame was created in the spring of 2019. This year's induction class will be unveiled throughout the 2023-24 season.