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Notre Dame’s Jewell Loyd, Brianna Turner Sweep ACC Honors

By Nicholas D. Blazek

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s basketball fans have been blessed to have so much talent to watch in recent years. This year is no exception, as Jewell Loyd garnered ACC Player of the Year, while teammate Brianna Turner earn ACC Freshman of the Year. It’s the second time the program has accomplished such an achievement–in 2013 when Skylar Diggins was Big East Player of the Year and Loyd earned Big East Freshman of the Year.

Loyd has had a spectacular junior season, leading the ACC in scoring at 20.7 points per game. She leads the ACC in 20-points games with 17, and has topped 30 four times, also leading the conference. Loyd has already locked up the espnW Midseason Player of the Year Award, and is on the finalists list for every other major player award, including the Naismith Trophy, the Wooden Award, the Women’s Basketball Association Wade Trophy and the Dawn Staley Award.

A consensus first-team All-American pick, Loyd has not disappointed. She’s in the top 15 of four statistical categories in the ACC, including scoring (1st), free-throw percentage (4th), assists (11th) and assist/turnover ratio (11th). Her performance against the Top 25 has set her apart. In nine games, she scored 20 points eight times, and 30 or more on three occasions –including 41 against No. 25 DePaul.

Turner missed some time early with a shoulder injury, but she shook that off to be one of the most consistent players in the ACC. In the 27 games she’s played, she started in 26. Aside from the three she missed from injury, she came off the bench on Senior Night.

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She’s averaging 14. 2 points per game, leads the team with 7.6 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting a nation’s best .681 from the field. She ranks in the top 12 of the ACC in four categories, including field-goal percentage (1st), blocks (3rd), rebounding (10th) and scoring (12th). Only one other player in the ACC appears in the top 12 with her in those categories, Duke standout Elizabeth Williams.

It’s another accomplishment of the program that Muffet McGraw has built at Notre Dame. And while McGraw missed out on ACC Coach of the Year, she very well could have added to the Irish post-season honors. The now No. 2 Irish (28-2, 15-1 ACC) will face the winner of eighth-seeded Miami (one of their two losses) and the nine seed Virginia.