Dec. 12, 2016
By Leigh Torbin
For Brianna Turner of the No. 2/1 Notre Dame women’s basketball team, two double-doubles last week against two ranked foes added up to one nice award as the junior forward was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Player of the Week on Monday.
Facing No. 1 UConn on Dec. 7, Turner scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds — eight of them off of the offensive glass. Three nights later, on the road at No. 16 DePaul, Turner scored 14 points and added 11 rebounds. She blocked a pair of shots in each contest. Turner shot an even 50% for the week (11-for-22) from the floor and connected on eight of her nine free throw attempts.
A preseason All-American, Turner now has four double-doubles on the season including one in each of Notre Dame’s three games this year against ranked opponents. In addition to her strong showings against both UConn and DePaul, Turner scored 10 points and added 12 rebounds in Notre Dame’s win over No. 17 Washington in the championship game of the Preseason WNIT on Nov. 20.
Her performance against UConn marked the first time the Huskies had allowed a double-double with at least 12 points and rebounds in nearly a year, dating back to when USF’s Courtney Williams scored 26 and grabbed 13 boards on Jan. 11.
Turner’s honor the third time in the five-week-old season that the Irish have claimed one of the ACC’s weekly accolades. Arike Ogunbowale earned ACC Player of the Week accolades on Nov. 14 while Jackie Young was named the league’s Rookie of the Week on Dec. 5.
The Irish, 9-1 on the season, have a break this week for final exams. The team returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 18, when it travels to face Toledo (8-1). The contest will tip off at 2 p.m. and will be streamed live online through WatchESPN.
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Leigh Torbin, athletics communications associate director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2013 and coordinates all media efforts for Notre Dame’s women’s basketball and men’s golf teams. A native of Framingham, Massachusetts, Torbin graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management. He has previously worked full-time on the athletic communications staffs at Vanderbilt, Florida, Connecticut and UCF.