CHARLOTTE – With the women’s basketball season inching closer, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced its preseason awards on Tuesday morning. Notre Dame’s Sam Brunelle landed on the Blue-Ribbon Panel’s Preseason All-ACC list, while freshman Maddy Westbeld was a consensus pick for the ACC Newcomer Watch List.
Brunelle was a 2020 ACC All-Freshman Team selection. She finished last season with 23 games in double figures, including six of 20+ points, to go along with her two double-doubles. Brunelle started in all 31 games and led all ACC freshmen in scoring with her 13.9 ppg. In fact, Brunelle finished the season strong, averaging 18.6 ppg, on 45.2 percent shooting, over the last five games.
Over the last 17 games of the season, Brunelle found her stroke from beyond the arc, connecting on 45-of-118 (.381). All-in-all, her 58 made three-pointers ranked second all-time for a Notre Dame freshman behind Alicia Ratay’s 73.
Meanwhile, Westbeld spearheaded a five-woman freshmen class that ranked third in the country, which tied Coach McGraw’s highest rated class of her career. Ranked No. 23 overall, Westbeld brought a lot of prep accolades along with her to campus: 2020 Gatorade Ohio Girls Basketball Player of the Year, McDonald’s All-American, Naismith National High School All-American and OPSWA Division I Player of the Year.
As a senior, Westbeld led Fairmont High to a 25-3 record and a regional finals appearance in the OHSAA Girls Basketball State Championships. She led her team in scoring (18.0), rebounds (11.2), assists (3.6), steals (2.8) and blocks (2.3).
Below you can find the complete results of the head coaches’ and blue-ribbon panel’s preseason ACC picks:
Head Coaches & Blue-Ribbon Panel Preseason Player of the Year
Dana Evans, Louisville, Sr., G
Head Coaches Preseason All-ACC Team
Taylor Soule, Jr., F, Boston College
Dana Evans, Louisville, Sr., G (12, Preseason Player of the Year Votes)
Janelle Bailey, North Carolina, Sr., C
Jakia Brown-Turner, NC State So., G,
Elissa Cunane, NC State, Jr., C (3, Preseason Player of the Year Votes)
Kiara Lewis, Syracuse, Sr., G
Tiana Mangakahia, Syracuse, Gr., G
Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech, So., C
Aisha Sheppard, Virginia Tech, Sr., G
Ivana Raca, Wake Forest, Sr., F
Head Coaches Newcomer Watch List
Hailey Van Lith, Louisville, Fr., G
Kianna Smith, Louisville, Jr., G
Deja Kelly, North Carolina, Fr., G
Maddy Westbeld, Notre Dame, Fr., F
Kamilla Cardoso, Syracuse, Fr., C
Head Coaches Predicted Order of Finish
Louisville (13, first-place votes) – 223
NC State (2, first-place votes) – 210
Syracuse – 193
North Carolina – 157
Georgia Tech – 146
Notre Dame – 138
Virginia Tech – 125
Florida State – 124
Boston College – 120
Miami – 99
Duke – 74
Wake Forest – 73
Clemson – 56
Pittsburgh – 37
Virginia – 25
Blue Ribbon Panel Preseason All-ACC Team (57 voters)
Taylor Soule, Jr., F, Boston College (3, Preseason Player of the Year Votes)
Dana Evans, Louisville, Sr., G (40, Preseason Player of the Year Votes)
Janelle Bailey, North Carolina, Sr., C
Elissa Cunane, NC State, Jr., C (11, Preseason Player of the Year Votes)
Sam Brunelle, Notre Dame, So., F
Kiara Lewis, Syracuse, Sr., G
Tiana Mangakahia, Syracuse, Gr., G (3, Preseason Player of the Year Votes)
Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech, So., C
Aisha Sheppard, Virginia Tech, Sr., G
Ivana Raca, Wake Forest, Sr., F
Blue Ribbon Panel Newcomer Watch List
Tiana England, Florida State, Gr., G
Hailey Van Lith, Louisville, Fr., G
Deja Kelly, North Carolina, Fr., G
Maddy Westbeld, Notre Dame, Fr., F
Kamilla Cardoso, Syracuse, Fr., C
Blue Ribbon Panel Predicted Order of Finish (57 voters)
Louisville (45, first-place votes) – 840 points
NC State (10, first-place votes) – 797 points
Syracuse (2, first-place votes) – 724 points
Notre Dame – 555 points
North Carolina – 547 points
Florida State – 516 points
Virginia Tech – 482 points
Boston College – 468 points
Georgia Tech – 452 points
Duke – 385 points
Miami – 359 points
Wake Forest – 258 points
Clemson – 183 points
Virginia – 149 points
Pitt – 125 points
— ND —