NOTRE DAME, Ind. – A trio of Notre Dame women’s basketball players are part of the midseason top 25 for the John Wooden Award, which was released Wednesday evening. Seniors Arike Ogunbowale and Jessica Shepard, along with junior Jackie Young, all made the prestigious list, tying UConn for the most representatives from one team.
The top 25 will be pared down to 20 later in the season before a list of 15 finalists is revealed ahead of the NCAA tournament. The Wooden Award winner will be announced at the College Basketball Awards on April 12.
Ogunbowale leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring at 22.1 points per game, which also ranks 10th in the country. Ogunbowale also leads the ACC in 20-point scoring games with 10 and 30-point performances with four. The senior is a perfect 15-for-15 in games this season in reaching double-digit points, and has gone 36 straight games when dating back to last season.
Ogunbowale continues to chase Notre Dame’s all-time scoring record of 2,357 points, held by Skylar Diggins-Smith. The Milwaukee native currently sits with 2,108 career points, which is good for fourth place.
Shepard is nearly averaging a double-double with 15.4 points and 9.5 rebounds, ranking 10th and 4th in the ACC, respectively. Shepard also continues to be highly efficient from the field, shooting 60.5 percent on the season, which ranks 17th in the nation.
Shepard has posted two 15+ point, 15+ rebound performances, totaling four double-doubles on the year. The Fremont, Nebraska, native has been quite the distributor lately as well, dishing out a total of 17 assists over the last three games.
Young ranks third on the team in scoring with 15.3 points and leads the team in assists with 4.7. The junior also boasts a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio, which ranks fourth in the ACC and 41st in the nation. Young is shooting 56.7 percent from the field, which ranks 32nd nationally, but only second among guards, trailing just Villanova’s Mary Gedaka.
The Princeton, Indiana, native continues to shine in the biggest games, averaging 18.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists against ranked opposition this season.
Fans can catch Ogunbowale, Shepard, Young and the rest of the No. 1 ranked Irish on Thursday, Jan. 10, when Notre Dame hosts No. 2 Louisville at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Wooden Award Top 25
| PLAYER | SCHOOL |
|---|---|
| Kristine Anigwe | Cal |
| Kenisha Bell | Minnesota |
| Kalani Brown | Baylor |
| Bridget Carleton | Iowa State |
| Chennedy Carter | Texas A&M |
| Kaila Charles | Maryland |
| Napheesa Collier | UConn |
| Lauren Cox | Baylor |
| Sophie Cunningham | Missouri |
| Crystal Dangerfield | UConn |
| Rennia Davis | Tennessee |
| Asia Durr | Louisville |
| Megan Gustafson | Iowa |
| Ruthy Hebard | Oregon |
| Rhyne Howard | Kentucky |
| Sabrina Ionescu | Oregon |
| Tiana Mangakahia | Syracuse |
| Teaira McCowan | Mississippi State |
| Aari McDonald | Arizona |
| Arike Ogunbowale | Notre Dame |
| Katie Lou Samuelson | UConn |
| Jessica Shepard | Notre Dame |
| Destiny Slocum | Oregon State |
| Alanna Smith | Stanford |
| Jackie Young | Notre Dame |
–ND–