Four Notre Dame women’s basketball players earn All-ACC honors

Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said she wouldn’t be the ACC Coach of the Year without a terrific team. Tuesday’s regular season awards back her up on that.

Four of Notre Dame’s 10 scholarship players earned recognition from the league. Sophomore guards Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron are first-team All-ACC selections. Junior forward Maddy Westbeld made the second team while freshman KK Bransford was named to the All-Freshman team.

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Notre Dame has one of the best guard duos in the country in Miles and Citron. Hailing from the same recruiting class, Citron leads Notre Dame with 14.5 points per game while Miles is right on her heels at 14.3. Miles leads the Irish in rebounds (7.2), assists (6.9) and steals (2.1) per game. Citron ranks fourth (5.5), fourth (2.3) and second (1.6), respectively, on the Irish in those categories. Citron’s three-point percentage of 45.1 leads all Irish players by a considerable margin. The next best figure is Westbeld’s mark of 35.7.

Westbeld, a former ACC Freshman of the Year, is the Irish’s third-leading scorer at 10.9 points per game. She also sits at 6.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Like Citron and Miles, Westbeld started all 28 of Notre Dame’s regular season games. Among players who played in all 28, Westbeld also ranked third among them in minutes per game at 26.8. Citron led the team at 33.1, and Miles ranked second at 31.7.

Bransford has played in all 28 games and has averaged 8.5 points, 2.8 rebounds 1.1 assists and 0.8 steals per game. She made seven starts after the injury to graduate student guard Dara Mabrey, and she could be slotted back into the starting lineup if Miles is unable to return from a knee injury of her own this week. Miles’ status is to be determined after going down in the first half at Louisville on Sunday.

Here’s a look at the full list of honorees from the ACC. The 2022-23 All-ACC Team was determined by the league’s head coaches and Blue Ribbon Panel.

2022-23 All-ACC Women’s Basketball Team
Player of the Year: Elizabeth Kitley, Sr., C, Virginia Tech
Defensive Player of the Year: Celeste Taylor, Sr., G, Duke
Rookie of the Year: Ta’Niya Latson, G, Florida State
Coach of the Year: Niele Ivey, Notre Dame
Sixth Player of the Year: Saniya Rivers, So., G, NC State
Most Improved Player: Makayla Timpson, So., F, Florida State

All-ACC First Team
Elizabeth Kitley, Sr., C, Virginia Tech 1447 points
Olivia Miles, So., G, Notre Dame 1385
Ta’Niya Latson, Fr., G, Florida State 1304
Hailey Van Lith, Jr., G, Louisville 1156
Georgia Amoore, Jr., G, Virginia Tech 1083
Dyaisha Fair, Sr., G, Syracuse 1060
Deja Kelly, Jr., G, North Carolina 1037
Celeste Taylor, Sr., G, Duke 898
Sonia Citron, So., G, Notre Dame 878
Alyssa Ustby, Jr., G, North Carolina 710

All-ACC First Team
Elizabeth Kitley, Sr., C, Virginia Tech 1447 points
Olivia Miles, So., G, Notre Dame 1385
Ta’Niya Latson, Fr., G, Florida State 1304
Hailey Van Lith, Jr., G, Louisville 1156
Georgia Amoore, Jr., G, Virginia Tech 1083
Dyaisha Fair, Sr., G, Syracuse 1060
Deja Kelly, Jr., G, North Carolina 1037
Celeste Taylor, Sr., G, Duke 898
Sonia Citron, So., G, Notre Dame 878
Alyssa Ustby, Jr., G, North Carolina 710

All-Defensive Team
Celeste Taylor, Sr., G, Duke 227
Mykasa Robinson, Gr., G, Louisville 195
Elizabeth Kitley, Sr., C, Virginia Tech 163
Makayla Timpson, So., F, Florida State 153
Dyaisha Fair, Sr., G, Syracuse 81

All-Freshman Team
Ta’Niya Latson, G, Florida State 374
Taina Mair, G, Boston College 251
Tonie Morgan, G, Georgia Tech 162
Ruby Whitehorn, G, Clemson 120
KK Bransford, G, Notre Dame 82

ACC Most Improved
Makayla Timpson, Florida State 292
Dontavia Waggoner, Boston College 160
Camryn Taylor, Virginia 86

ACC Sixth Player
Saniya Rivers, NC State 226
Lauren Ebo, Notre Dame 211
D’asia Gregg, Virginia Tech 119

ACC Coach of the Year
Niele Ivey, Notre Dame 211
Kara Lawson, Duke 142
Kenny Brooks, Virginia Tech 137