GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Louisville junior guard Asia Durr has been selected as the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year by the league’s Blue Ribbon Panel and the ACC’s 15 head coaches.

Both groups also selected North Carolina’s Janelle Bailey as the ACC Freshman of the Year and Louisville’s Jeff Walz as the ACC Coach of the Year.

In addition, Duke redshirt senior guard Lexie Brown has been voted the ACC Defensive Player of the Year by the league’s head coaches, while Georgia Tech senior forward Zaire O’Neil received Sixth Player of the Year honors.

The ACC individual awards were announced in conjunction with the start of the 2018 ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, which tips off later today at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Durr is a major reason Louisivlle (29-2, 15-1) will enter the ACC Tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Douglas, Georgia, native ranks third in the conference in scoring at 19.5 points per game, and her .445 shooting accuracy from 3-point range (98-for-220) leads the ACC.

Durr has scored at least 20 points in a game this season 14 times, including a 47-point explosion against Ohio State that set a program record and ranks as the fourth-most ever scored by an ACC player in a single game.

With her 20 points and six assists in last Sunday’s win over Pitt that clinched a share of the ACC regular-season title and the top ACC Tournament seed, Durr led the Cardinals in scoring for the 21st  time this season and in assists for the sixth time.

Named the USBWA National Player of the Week on Jan. 16 and a nominee for numerous national awards, Durr averaged a league-high 19.9 points in ACC regular-season play.

North Carolina’s Bailey is scoring at a 15.4 ppg clip, and her 9.1 rebounds per game rank fourth in the ACC. Both numbers lead all conference freshmen. The 6-foot-4 native of Matthews, North Carolina, leads the league in offensive rebounds with 3.7 per game and ranks among the top players in the conference in both field goal percentage (.495) and blocked shots (1.2 per game).

Bailey was voted the ACC Rookie of the Week seven times during the regular season. The 2017 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year, Bailey enters the ACC Tournament having recorded a double-double in six of her last eight games.



Walz led the Cardinals to their sixth regular-season conference title (shared or outright) and their first since 2000-01 (in Conference USA). Louisville’s 15-1 conference record matches the 2015-16 season for the best as a member of the ACC.

Under Walz’s watch, Louisville is the first ACC program other than Notre Dame or Duke to win the regular-season title since Miami won a share in 2010-11. With its overall record of 29-2, Louisville recorded its best regular-season finish in program history, surpassing the 28 wins in 2013-14.
 
The Cardinals’ current record is already tied for third best win total in school history, matching the 2016-17 and 2012-13 seasons. Walz, a semifinalist for 2018 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year, has led his team to its banner season despite returning only two starters from the 2016-17 squad that posted a 29-8 record and reached the NCAA Sweet 16.



Duke’s Brown is currently tied for the ACC scoring lead, but the redshirt senior from Suwanee, Georgia, also ranks among the nation’s leaders in steals with 3.6 per game.

A solid defender with teammates who follow her lead, Brown has helped the Blue Devils limit opponents to an ACC-low .357 shooting percentage from the floor. Duke also ranks second behind Louisville in fewest points allowed per game (56.5).



Georgia Tech’s O’Neil has come off the bench in 28 of the Yellow Jackets’ 29 games, but she ranks second on the team in scoring (9.9 ppg) and in rebounding (5.2 rpg). The 5-11 forward from Newark, New Jersey, is shooting .502 from the floor to rank 14th in the conference.

O’Neil, who has played an average of 20.2 minutes per game, has also made her presence felt defensively with 20 blocked shots and 23 steals.



2017-18 Blue Ribbon Panel Awards
ACC Player of the Year: Asia Durr, Jr., G, Louisville
ACC Rookie of the Year: Janelle Bailey, Fr., F, North Carolina
ACC Coach of the Year: Jeff Walz, Louisville
 
2017-18 Head Coaches Awards
ACC Player of the Year: Asia Durr, Jr., G, Louisville
ACC Rookie of the Year: Janelle Bailey, Fr., F, North Carolina
ACC Defensive Player of the Year: Lexie Brown, R-Sr., G, Duke
ACC Sixth Player of the Year: Zaire O’Neil, Sr., F, Georgia Tech
ACC Coach of the Year: Jeff Walz, Louisville