GREENSBORO, N.C. — Notre Dame freshman KK Bransford closed out the regular season with two huge performances, earning her ACC Rookie of the Week honors for the first time.
Bransford, a 5-11 guard out of Cincinnati, started the week with 10 points against Georgia Tech in a 76-53 home victory. She went 5-for-7 from the floor over nearly 19 minutes of play.
On Sunday, the rookie had a career day at Louisville. Bransford had 14 points via 7 buckets. The latter mark was a career-high. Bransford approached her career-high in minutes with nearly 31, as her time on the court increased in the absence of point guard Olivia Miles. Bransford’s accuracy and willingness to flock to the basket — she had 3 rebounds as well — helped Notre Dame beat Louisville, 68-65. The Irish walked away with a regular season ACC title.
Overall on the week, Bransford went 12-for-18 from the field (.667) with 4 rebounds and a pair of assists. Her 12 points a game over those two contests was tied for the ACC lead amongst freshmen last week.
In total this year, Bransford has brought valuable depth to Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Coach Niele Ivey’s roster. She played in all 28 games and made seven starts while center Lauren Ebo recovered from injury. Bransford has put up 12 performances with 10+ points and four games with 6+ rebounds.
When coming off the bench, no other freshman in the ACC has been as dominant. Bransford leads the league with 65 made field goals and 50 made free throws in a non-starting role. Her 8.6 points per game off the bench is second in the conference.
Bransford and Notre Dame will be back in action on Friday, as the Irish play the winner of Thursday’s NC State-Syracuse game at the 2023 Ally ACC Tournament.