April 20, 2009
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame women’s lacrosse standout Jillian Byers (Sr., Northport, N.Y.) has been selected as the BIG EAST offensive player of the week for her play in Notre Dame’s games last week at Vanderbilt (4/15) and at home against Connecticut (4/18). This marks the second time this season that Byers has been honored as the conference offensive player of the week. She also has been named to the league’s honor roll three times this season.
The senior all-BIG EAST and All-American attack player scored 11 goals with five assists for 16 points in the two games. Included in her 16-point week was a Notre Dame and BIG EAST single-game record of 12 points (seven goals and five assists) in the 20-5 win over Connecticut on Senior Day at Alumni Field.
Notre Dame’s all-time leading goal scorer (243) and point producer (307), Byers opened the week with four goals in an 18-11 loss at Vanderbilt on April 15. She also is the school’s all-time leader in draw controls with 145 in her career.
She saved her best performance for the final home game of her career, equaling a personal best with seven goals while setting career bests for assists (5) and points (12) as the Irish ran past the Huskies of Connecticut, 20-5. Byers opened the game with two goals and one assist in the first half as Notre Dame jumped out to a 10-0 lead. In the second half, she would have a hand in nine of Notre Dame’s 10 goals, scoring five and setting up four others.
The 1-1 week gives Notre Dame a 12-4 overall record and the UConn win gives the Irish a 5-2 mark in BIG EAST play, good for a third-place finish in conference action.
Ninth-ranked Notre Dame will open play in the BIG EAST Tournament on Friday, April 24 versus eighth-ranked Syracuse as the Orange finished tied for first with a 6-1 league mark, but lost the tiebreaker to Georgetown. Notre Dame and Syracuse will play at 5:30 p.m. at Georgetown’s Multi-Sport Field while the Hoyas face fourth-place Louisville at 7:30 p.m. The championship game is set for Sunday, April 26 at 1:00 p.m. and will be televised by CBS College Sports.
Byers will enter the BIG EAST Tournament as Notre Dame’s leading scorer with 64 goals and 18 assists for a career-high 82 points. That ranks her second in the BIG EAST and fourth in the nation. Her 64 goals are tops in the BIG EAST and tie her for the national lead with Boston University’s Sarah Dalton and Lehigh’s Lauren Dykstra.
A Tewaaraton Trophy nominee, Byers also leads the Irish with 46 draw controls, is second 21 caused turnovers and fourth with 28 ground balls. She is the only player in Notre Dame history to have four seasons with 54 or more goals per year.
For her career, she now has 243 goals and 64 assists for 307 career points. Her 243 career goals make her the leading active Division I goal scorer in the nation and put her 11th on the NCAA’s all-time goal list. She is the 22nd player in NCAA history to go over 300 points in her career and is currently 19th on the NCAA all-time point list.