CHICAGO (March 10, 2020) – Loyola University Chicago junior
Abby O'Connor (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph) has been selected to the Missouri Valley Conference's Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete Team, it was announced on Tuesday by the league office. O'Connor, who is now a two-time Scholar-Athlete honoree, landed on the Second Team.
For the second time in as many years, O'Connor closed the regular season as Loyola's leader in scoring (12.3 ppg), rebounding (8.0 rpg), and blocked shots (0.7 bpg). The South Bend, Ind. native has reached double figures in scoring a team-best 20 times this season, cracking the 20-point mark in wins over Vermont (November 8) and Evansville (January 10). In a matchup with Bradley on January 17, O'Connor became the 25
th player in program history to surpass 1,000 points for her career.
In the classroom, O'Connor holds a 3.35 cumulative grade-point average as a Political Science and Sociology double major.
The criteria for the MVC Scholar-Athlete team voting parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves, have played at least 75 percent of a team's games, and must carry at least a 3.20 GPA (on a 4.0 scale). Student-athletes must also have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true and redshirt freshmen are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at the institution.
Eighth-seeded Loyola begins play in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship on Thursday afternoon when it takes on ninth-seeded Indiana State in an opening-round matchup at 4 p.m. inside TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Ill.
A full listing of the 2019-20 MVC Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete Teams follows.
First Team
Gabi Haack, Bradley
Becca Hittner, Drake
Sara Rhine, Drake
Makenzie Silvey, Southern Illinois
Lexi Wallen, Illinois State
Alexa Willard, Missouri State
Second Team
Chelsea Brackman, Bradley
Grace Hales, Valparaiso
Maddy Monahan, Drake
Abby O'Connor, Loyola
Karli Rucker, UNI
Honorable Mention
Abby Brockmeyer, Southern Illinois
Brice Calip, Missouri State
Kristina Cavey, UNI
Megan Maahs, UNI
Nicole Martin, Southern Illinois
