Louisville Women’s Basketball won the ACC regular season title outright after beating Notre Dame. They’ve had a remarkable season and are among a handful of teams with a legitimate chance to make the Final Four. As such, it’s no wonder that multiple players were given ACC accolades today.
Let’s start with the unquestioned leader of this Louisville team Dana Evans. All the senior guard has done since she arrived at Louisville is win. As a sophomore, Dana won the Sixth Player of the Year award. As a junior, she became the first player to go from Sixth Player of the Year to conference player of the year. Now as a senior, she won her second straight ACC Player of the Year award.
Back to back π's!
βοΈ πππ§π ππ―ππ§π¬ βοΈ
ACC Player of the Year#GoCards x https://t.co/X4ANgSVE4h pic.twitter.com/tO3v1AB3xq— Louisville WBB (@UofLWBB) March 2, 2021
With today’s announcement, this makes the 5th time aΒ Louisville player has won the award (2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021). Louisville also has had 5 of the last 6 ACC POY winners.
βοΈ π£πππ¬ππ₯ π’π π§ππ π¬πππ₯ βοΈ@Danaaakianaaa earns back-to-back POY awards π pic.twitter.com/PKwl3enn1J
— ACC Women's Basketball (@accwbb) March 2, 2021
Dana is the first back-to-back winner since Asia Durr won the award in 2018 and 2019. Dana won the ACC POY after leading Louisville to a 14-2 record in conference while averaging 35.8mpg, 21.4ppg, 2.8rpg, and 4.1apg. Dana shot 43.2% from the field, 35.8% from beyond the arc, and an incredible 96.6% from the free throw line.
BACK. TO. BACK.
The 2021 ACC Player of the Year: @UofLWBB's @Danaaakianaaa π΄β«οΈ pic.twitter.com/doEN2YGa1x
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) March 2, 2021
Hopefully, the awards aren’t done piling up for the Louisville senior from Gary, Indiana. Dana is also a finalist for National Player of the Year.
Meanwhile, Louisville’s defensive leader and tone-setter Mykasa Robinson was named to this year’s All-ACC Defensive Team today.
Work is work. π€
βοΈ ππ²π€ππ¬π ππ¨ππ’π§π¬π¨π§ βοΈ
ACC All-Defensive Team#GoCards pic.twitter.com/lLYMSbMIqW— Louisville WBB (@UofLWBB) March 2, 2021
Mykasa started 10 games for Louisville this year. In 16 conference games, Mykasa has 21 steals, 2 blocks, 41 defensive rebounds, and has taken countless chargers. Robinson usually draws the assignment of the opponent’s best offensive player, but, regardless of who she’s guarding, nothing comes easy.
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Congrats to the league's top defensive forces as selected by the ACC Head Coaches πͺ pic.twitter.com/Qa8kgQDP4Y
— ACC Women's Basketball (@accwbb) March 2, 2021
Last year, Louisville had two All-ACC Defensive Team members in seniors Kylee Shook and Jazmine Jones.
Finally, Louisville freshmen Hailey Van Lith and Olivia Cochran have been named to the ACC All-Freshman team.
πππ-ππ₯ππ¦ππ ππ‘ π§πππ
Incredible debut seasons for this group! πͺ pic.twitter.com/l5YcA7Umvr
— ACC Women's Basketball (@accwbb) March 2, 2021
Hailey Van Lith averaged 30.3mpg, 10.2ppg, 4.9rpg, and 2.4apg; all while starting all 16 conference games as a true freshman. Olivia Cochran started 11 conference games and averaged 9.9ppg and 6.7rpg. Cochran averaged 22.1mpg and shot 56.9% from the field and 77.4% from the free throw line.
Both Cochran and Van Lith came in as highly touted freshman and were both McDonald’s All-Americans in 2020. They started the majority of games for Louisville, with Van Lith having started all 23. Both players averaged over 21mpg and 11ppg for the entire season for the Cards. The future is definitely bright for Olivia and Hailey and most certainly is for the Louisville program.
The future is bright. π
βοΈ ππ₯π’π―π’π ππ¨ππ‘π«ππ§ & πππ’π₯ππ² πππ§ ππ’ππ‘ βοΈ
ACC All-Freshman Team#GoCards pic.twitter.com/Do7MXfsWgR— Louisville WBB (@UofLWBB) March 2, 2021
To read more about Dana’s, Mykasa’s, Hailey’s, and Olivia’s honors, check out UofL’s press release below:
PRESS RELEASE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT:
Louisvilleβs Dana Evans Named ACC Player of the Year for Second Straight Season
Mykasa Robinson was named to the All-Defensive Team, while Olivia Cochran and Hailey Van Lith were named to the All-Freshman Team.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 2, 2021
LOUISVILLE, Ky.Β β University of Louisville women’s basketball senior guardΒ Dana EvansΒ has been named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year for the second straight season, the league announced today.
In addition, junior guardΒ Mykasa RobinsonΒ was named to the All-Defensive Team, while freshmenΒ Olivia CochranΒ andΒ Hailey Van LithΒ were named to the All-Freshman Team.
Evans, selected as player of the year by the league’s Blue Ribbon Panel and the ACC’s head coaches, joinsΒ Asia DurrΒ as the only players in program history to earn conference player of the year multiple times. She is the ninth player in ACC history to win the award in back-to-back years.
Last season, she became the first player in league history to go from winning ACC Sixth Player of the Year to winning ACC Player of the Year the following season.
It marks the fourth straight year that the conference’s top honor has come from the Cardinals program, as Louisville joins Duke as the only two programs with the ACC Player of the Year in four consecutive years.
It is also the fifth time in the last six seasons that a UofL player has been named ACC Player of the Year as Durr was named ACC Player of the Year in 2018 and 2019 andΒ Myisha Hines-AllenΒ earned the honor following the 2015-16 campaign.
After earning the league’s ACC Player of the Year honor last season and being selected as the 2020-21 Preseason Player of the Year, Evans leads the conference in scoring with 21.0 points per game and has tallied 17 20-point games in 23 contests for the Cardinals this season. Her scoring average is the sixth best for a player in a Power 5 Conference.
Evans has scored in double figures in all 23 Louisville games this season and 40 straight overall, which is the longest streak at UofL in the last 20 years.
The senior has been terrific from the free throw line, connecting on 93.8% of her attempts to lead the ACC and rank second nationally.
Robinson, who had five charges on Sunday at Notre Dame and drew 19 charges in 16 ACC games, is the first UofL player named to the All-Defensive Team sinceΒ Jazmine JonesΒ andΒ Kylee ShookΒ both earned the honor last season.
Cochran and Van Lith, who both rank in the top six among ACC freshmen in points and rebounds per game, are the first Louisville players to earn All-Freshman honors since Evans did so following the 2017-18 campaign.Β Louisville is the only program with two players on the All-Freshman Team.
After claiming its fourth straight ACC regular season title, No. 5 Louisville (21-2, 14-2) will be the 1-seed in theΒ 2021 ACC Tournament in Greensboro, NC.Β The Cardinals open playΒ on Friday, March 5 at 12 p.m.Β against either 8-seed North Carolina or 9-seed Wake Forest.
