ST LOUIS, Mo. (January 29, 2018) – For the second time in the month of January, Abby O'Connor, a freshman on the Loyola University Chicago women's basketball team, has been named the Missouri Valley Conference's Newcomer of the Week, it was announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.
 
O'Connor averaged 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds as Loyola split a pair of games against teams from the state of Indiana this past weekend.  The South Bend, Ind. product connected on 45.8 percent (11-of-24) of her field goal attempts and 60 percent (3-of-5) of her three-point tries.
 
The 6-foot-0 guard/forward opened the weekend by pouring in a team-high 17 points against Indiana State on Friday night to go along with four rebounds and an assist.  She followed that performance up by adding 12 points, five rebounds, an assist and two steals as part of an 82-63 Rambler win over Evansville on Sunday afternoon.
 
O'Connor, who has now reached double figures in scoring a team-high 11 times this season, currently ranks fourth among all league freshmen in both scoring (10.3 ppg) and rebounding (5.5 rpg).  Since the start of conference play, she has averaged 11.9 points, good enough for ninth overall in the Valley.
 
Loyola will be back in action on Friday evening when it visits Normal, Ill. to take on Illinois State.  Tip-off from Redbird Arena is set for 7 p.m.