MVC Women's Basketball All-Conference Release
CHICAGO (March 13, 2019) – Three members of the Loyola University Chicago women's basketball team have been tabbed All-Missouri Valley Conference selections, the league office announced on Wednesday.
Abby O'Connor (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph) was named First Team All-MVC and earned a spot on the league's All-Defensive Team, while
Janae Gonzales (Tolleson, Ariz./Sierra Linda) and
Allison Day (Winchester, Ohio/Eastern) landed on The Valley's All-Freshman Team.
Loyola's first selection to the First Team since 2015-16, O'Connor put together one of the top all-around seasons for a Rambler in recent memory, averaging 14.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks across 29 appearances, all of which came in a starting role. The 2018 MVC All-Freshman Team honoree currently ranks fifth on the program's single-season blocks record board and is just 28 points shy of moving into the top 10 on Loyola's single-season scoring chart. A native of South Bend, Ind., O'Connor has been a consistent force, reaching double figures in scoring 25 times while racking up five double-double performances. She reached the 20-point plateau on four separate occasions, highlighted by a career-best 31-point outburst against DePaul on December 20. O'Connor, who operated at a league-best 41.7 percent (53-of-127) clip from beyond the three-point arc, was nearly unstoppable during the season's closing weeks, contributing 17.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks over Loyola's final seven games.
One of two Ramblers to earn All-Freshman accolades, Gonzales closed the regular season ranked second on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg), seeing action in 23 games before having her rookie campaign cut short due to injury. The sharpshooting guard out of Tolleson, Ariz. knocked down a team-best 55 three-point attempts, connecting on at least three treys in eight games. Like O'Connor, Gonzales turned in a 30-point effort of her own this season, draining eight threes, one shy of the single-game school record, en route to finishing with 30 points against Southern Illinois on January 27.
Rounding out Loyola's selections was Day, who started in 18 games during her freshman campaign. The Winchester, Ohio product chipped in 6.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.8 blocks. Day wasted no time in making her presence felt in Rogers Park, posting a 14-point, nine-rebound effort in a thrilling home win over Detroit Mercy on November 12. She would go on to score in double figures on eight more occasions, none more impressive than against Bradley on February 3 when she poured in 18 points in addition to ripping down 11 rebounds en route to her first career double-double.
The selection of both Gonzales and Day gives Loyola back-to-back seasons with at least one honoree on the MVC All-Freshman Team for the first time in program history.
Seventh-seeded Loyola opens play in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Thursday at 7 p.m. when it takes on No. 10 Evansville at TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Ill.
