Elizabeth Kitley(Northwest Guilford HS) named ACC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and Elissa Cunane(Northern Guilford HS) finishes second in the voting for POY:Not bad for Guilford County!!!

Posted on by Press Release

from www.theacc.com:
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Virginia Tech center Elizabeth Kitley(Northwest Guilford High School) has been tabbed the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year by the league’s Blue Ribbon Panel and the ACC’s 15 head coaches.

It marks the first time in conference history that the Hokies have produced the league’s player of the year.

Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron was tabbed the ACC Rookie of the Year by the Blue Ribbon Panel, while Duke’s Shayeann Day-Wilson was voted ACC Rookie of the Year by the league’s head coaches.

The conference’s head coaches and the Blue Ribbon Panel chose NC State’s Wes Moore as ACC Coach of the Year. Moore claims the honor for the second consecutive year from his peers and is the league’s coach of the year for the third time overall.

Georgia Tech senior forward Lorela Cubaj earned ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second consecutive season, while NC State’s Diamond Johnson earned Sixth Player of the Year honors.

Boston College senior guard Cameron Swartz received the nod as the ACC’s Most Improved Player.

Kitley ranks second in the conference in scoring with 17.7 points per game and is one of three ACC players with multiple 30-point games this season. She is one of just two ACC players averaging a double-double, contributing 10.2 rebounds per game. Kitley paces the conference in field-goal percentage at 53.8 and is also ranked No. 1 in the league in total double-doubles with 14.

Kitley is a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award (the nation’s top center) and Wooden Award Late Season Watch List. She has earned ACC Player of the Week honors four times this season, the most of any player.

A six-time ACC Freshman of the Week selection, Citron becomes the third Notre Dame player to earn ACC Rookie of the Year honors, joining Brianna Turner (2015) and Maddy Westbeld (2021). She is second among all league freshmen in scoring with 11.7 points per game and leads all ACC freshmen with 6.8 rebounds per game. Citron is one of three freshmen nationally averaging 11.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal per game.

Day-Wilson leads the Duke Blue Devils with 12.3 points per game, which also leads all ACC freshmen in scoring. She has claimed ACC Freshman of the Week three times this season and could become just the sixth Duke freshman to lead the team in scoring. Her 3.5 assists per game leads the conference’s freshmen and is eighth overall. Day-Wilson is one of four true freshmen nationally and the only from a Power 5 conference averaging 12.3 points and 3.5 assists per game.

After leading NC State to its first outright ACC regular-season title in 32 years, Moore garnered ACC Coach of the Year honors for the third time and second consecutive year. He guided the Pack to a program record 17 ACC wins and the program is currently ranked third nationally in both the Associated Press and USA TODAY/Coaches Polls. NC State owns seven wins over nationally-ranked opponents this season, headlined by three top-10 victories.

The Wolfpack was one of just two teams to finish its ACC home slate undefeated with a perfect 9-0 mark. NC State has won its last 17 ACC home games.
Moore is one of three ACC head coaches named to the 2022 Naismith Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List.

After claiming the Defensive Player of the Year honor last year, Georgia Tech’s Cubaj remains one of the league’s top defensive forces as she is a semifinalist for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. Cubaj ranks second nationally and leads the league in defensive rebounds per game with 9.4. She also paces the conference in total rebounds with 333, which ranks fifth in the country. A finalist for the Katrina McClain Award (the nation’s top power forward), Cubaj averages 10.7 points, 11.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists.

Johnson has contributed 11.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game off the bench for NC State. She has scored double figures in 15 of the Wolfpack’s 29 games, headlined by a season-high 24 points against Washington State. Johnston turned in one of her best performances of the season in NC State’s victory against No. 3 Louisville, as she scored 14 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter to help the Pack rally from a 14-point deficit.

Swartz has turned in a stellar season for Boston College, as she has increased her scoring average by 7.3 points from the non-conference portion of the season to ACC play. She leads the league in scoring in conference games with 19.0 points per contest. Swartz tallied six straight 20-point games for the Eagles this season, the longest stretch by a BC player in more than 20 years and the most by an ACC player since 2019.

Nine of the league’s teams are represented on the Blue Ribbon Panel’s First Team All-ACC, as Louisville was the lone team with two selections on the first team. The Head Coaches First Team All-ACC featured players from eight conference teams with Louisville and Notre Dame each having two selections.

The Blue Ribbon Panel and Head Coaches All-Freshman Teams were identical with Boston College’s Maria Gakdeng, Duke’s Day-Wilson, Florida State’s O’Mariah Gordon and Makayla Timpson, Louisville’s Payton Verhulst, Miami’s Ja’Leah Williams, NC State’s Aziaha James and Notre Dame’s Citron.

The coaches also selected the 2021-22 ACC All-Defensive Team which features Georgia Tech’s Cubaj, Louisville’s Emily Engstler and Mykasa Robinson, Notre Dame’s Maya Dodson and Virginia Tech’s Kitley.

The bracket is set for the 45th annual ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, which runs Wednesday (March 2) through Sunday (March 6) at Greensboro Coliseum. Tournament play begins at 1 p.m. on Wednesday with No. 12 seed Syracuse facing No. 13 Clemson. The second game will feature No. 10 Duke against No. 15 Pitt at 3:30 p.m. First-round action concludes Wednesday at 6:30 pm., with No. 11 Wake Forest versus No. 14 Virginia.

2021-22 Blue Ribbon Panel Awards
ACC Player of the Year Voting
Elizabeth Kitley(Northwest Guiford High School), Virginia Tech, Jr., C – 948 points
Elissa Cunane(Northern Guilford High School), NC State, Sr., C – 861 points
Emily Engstler, Louisville, Sr., F – 720 points

ACC Rookie of the Year Voting
Sonia Citron, Notre Dame, Fr., G – 505 points
Shayeann Day-Wilson, Duke, Fr., G – 476 points
Maria Gakdeng, Boston College, Fr., C – 425 points

ACC Coach of the Year Voting
Wes Moore, NC State – 150 points
Kenny Brooks, Virginia Tech – 73 points
Niele Ivey, Notre Dame – 70 points

Blue Ribbon Panel (69 Voters)
All-ACC First Team
Cameron Swartz, Boston College, Sr., G
Delicia Washington, Clemson, Gr., G
Lorela Cubaj, Georgia Tech, 5th Yr., F
Emily Engstler, Louisville, Sr., F
Hailey Van Lith, Louisville, So., G
Deja Kelly, North Carolina, So., G
Elissa Cunane, NC State, Sr., C
Olivia Miles, Notre Dame, Fr., G
Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech, Jr., C
Jewel Spear, Wake Forest, So., G

All-ACC Second Team
Taylor Soule, Boston College, Sr., F
Morgan Jones, Florida State, Sr., G
Alyssa Ustby, North Carolina, So., F
Maya Dodson, Notre Dame, Gr., F
Aisha Sheppard, Virginia Tech, Gr., G

Honorable Mention
Lotta-Maj Lahtinen, Georgia Tech, Sr., G
Kelsey Marshall, Miami, Gr., G
Diamond Johnson, NC State, So., G
Kayla Jones, NC State, Gr., F
Teisha Hyman, Syracuse, R-So., G
Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech, So., G

2021-22 Head Coaches Awards
ACC Player of the Year: Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech, Jr., C
ACC Freshman of the Year: Shayeann Day-Wilson, Duke, Fr., G
ACC Coach of the Year: Wes Moore, NC State
ACC Defensive Player of the Year: Lorela Cubaj, Georgia Tech, 5th Yr., F
ACC Sixth Player of the Year: Diamond Johnson, NC State, So., G
ACC Most Improved Player: Cameron Swartz, Boston College, Sr., G

All-ACC First Team
Cameron Swartz, Boston College, Sr., G
Morgan Jones, Florida State, Sr., G
Lorela Cubaj, Georgia Tech, 5th Yr., F
Emily Engstler, Louisville, Sr., F
Hailey Van Lith, Louisville, So., G
Deja Kelly, North Carolina, So., G
Elissa Cunane, NC State, Sr., C
Maya Dodson, Notre Dame, Gr., F
Olivia Miles, Notre Dame, Fr., G
Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech, Jr., C

All-ACC Second Team
Taylor Soule, Boston College, Sr., F
Delicia Washington, Clemson, Gr., G
Kayla Jones, NC State, Gr., F
Aisha Sheppard, Virginia Tech, Gr., G
Jewel Spear, Wake Forest, So., G

Honorable Mention
Kelsey Marshall, Miami, Gr., G
Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech, So., G

All-Defensive Team
Lorela Cubaj, Georgia Tech, 5th Yr., F
Emily Engstler, Louisville, Sr., F
Mykasa Robinson, Louisville, Sr., G
Maya Dodson, Notre Dame, Gr., F
Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech, Jr., C

All-Freshman Team (Blue Ribbon & Head Coaches)
Maria Gakdeng, Boston College, C
Shayeann Day-Wilson, Duke, G
O’Mariah Gordon, Florida State, G
Makayla Timpson, Florida State, F
Payton Verhulst, Louisville, G
Ja’Leah Williams, Miami, G
Aziaha James, NC State, F
Sonia Citron, Notre Dame, G