Durr, Ogunbowale lead All-ACC First Team selections

Irish, Hurricanes land two on Blue Ribbon and Coaches’ first team

As you might expect from the conference considered the toughest in Division I women’s hoops, this year’s All-ACC First Team squad features some of the best players in the game.

Both Notre Dame and Miami landed two players on both first teams, one voted on by the league’s coaches and its Blue Ribbon Panel.

Both teams also feature the ACC’s two semifinalists for the Citizen Naismith Trophy: Louisville senior guard Asia Durr, who won the ACC Player of the Year award last year, and Notre Dame senior guard Arike Ogunbowale, who led the Fighting Irish to a national championship last season.

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The two have been the ACC’s best players throughout their four seasons, and when the league announces its Player of the Year award for this season, it should be one of those two. And for good reason.

Durr led the league with a 21.4 scoring average, which ranked 13th nationally. She’s also one of the league’s most prolific outside shooters, averaging nearly three 3-pointers per game.

However, Durr demonstrated this season that she can pick up her game against some of the toughest teams in the country. When Louisville played an Associated Press Top 25 team this season, she averaged 25.8 points per game. That included matching her career-high with 47 against North Carolina State last week.

Ogunbowale finished just behind Durr for the ACC scoring crown and ranked 14th in the country with her 21.4 scoring average. She led the league with 20 20-point games, but she also showed versatility by averaging four assists per game and 1.8 steals per contest.

Joining Ogunbowale was her teammate Jessica Shepard, a forward who just missed out on averaging a double-double. The senior’s 16.1 scoring average and 9.9 rebounding average were among the eight statistics where she ranked in the ACC’s top 15.

Miami’s post players were a big part of their success this season, and that allowed them to earn all-conference honors this year. Senior Emese Hof, who led the Hurricanes with her 25-point performance in a 79-73 upset at Louisville last month, was the league’s second-best shooter, hitting 59.3 percent from the field.

Hof’s teammate, junior Beatrice Mompremier, might have been the league’s most consistent player this season as she tallied a league-leading 23 double-doubles. Not surprisingly, the Miami native who played previously at Baylor ranked in the top 10 in both scoring (16.5 ppg) and rebounding (12.0 rpg).

Mangakahia earns first-team spot for second straight season

Syracuse guard Tiana Mangakahia earned her second All-ACC first team selection. The junior averaged 17.6 points a game and led the ACC with her 8.9 assist average. She posted a triple-double earlier in the season and scored 44 in a win at Florida State last week.

Also joining the team were North Carolina senior guard Paris Kea, who became the first Tar Heel to win back-to-back first team honors in 11 years, North Carolina State graduate guard Kiara Leslie, who averaged 15.8 points and 7.3 rebounds a game and Florida State junior guard Kiah Gillespie, who is on pace to lead the Seminoles in scoring, rebounding and 3-pointers.

The only selections where the two groups differed came when the Blue Ribbon Panel chose Duke junior guard Haley Gorecki, whose 17.1 scoring average ranks fourth in the league, and the coaches tabbed Virginia Tech senior guard Taylor Emery, who averaged 17.9 points per game.

Besides player of the year, the ACC also will announce other individual winners Wednesday.

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