April 6, 2009
2009 WBCA High School All-America Game Box Score
ST. LOUIS – Notre Dame women’s basketball incoming freshman Skylar Diggins (South Bend, Ind./Washington) posted game highs of 24 points, five assists and five steals, and nearly rallied her all-star club to a comeback victory for the second time in four days, but Diggins’ White Team fell to the Blue Team, 79-77, at the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) High School All-America Game on Saturday afternoon at the Washington University Field House in St. Louis.
As was the case as last Wednesday’s McDonald’s High School All-America Game in Coral Gables, Fla., Diggins not only posted game-high scoring honors (she had 18 in that contest), but she garnered a share of the WBCA’s Most Valuable Player award, becoming the first Irish freshman-to-be to take home the MVP honor at the WBCA game. In addition, Diggins joins Alexis Hornbuckle, a former Tennessee All-American and current member of the WNBA’s Detroit Shock, as the only players to be named the most valuable player at both major high school All-America games — Hornbuckle pulled off the feat in 2004.
Diggins, the Gatorade and Naismith National High School Player of the Year, as well as the 2009 Indiana Miss Basketball, scored 17 of her 24 points in the second half, including a pair of driving layups in the closing moments that helped pull the White squad within striking distance. Trailing 79-76, Diggins took an inbounds pass and raced into the front court, but was fouled with three seconds left before she could get off a game-tying three-point attempt. The future Irish guard hit the front end of the one-and-one free throw situation, but in trying to intentionally miss the second foul shot, (and possibly regain possession for a game-winning or game-tying shot), Diggins’ attempt did not hit the rim and the Blue Team was able to run out the clock.
— ND —