{"id":491929,"date":"2026-02-26T16:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/491929\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T16:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:25:10","slug":"georgia-is-on-teams-minds-but-theres-still-a-lot-to-be-determined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/491929\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia is on teams’ minds, but there’s still a lot to be determined…"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats newsletter. We\u2019re excited to announce a new partnership with Hudl<\/a>. Hudl\u2019s industry-leading tools – Sportscode, Instat, and Fastmodel – elevate the preparation, performance, and player development of WNBA and NCAA teams. We appreciate their support and look forward to working with them to help bring more insight about the women\u2019s game to you.<\/p>\n

You can find me on Bluesky<\/a> and HHS on Bluesky<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Uche Izoje. Photo Credit: Syracuse University Athletics<\/p>\n

The 15-team ACC Tournament field is set, even with two games remaining on the regular season schedule.<\/p>\n

Here is the bracket if the tournament started today:<\/p>\n

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Before the tournament tips off, the various All-Conference awards will be handed out. New in the ACC this year, the Blue Ribbon Panel and the coaches will have separate sets of awardees.<\/p>\n

With all due respect to the other first-year players in the league, just give ACC Rookie of the Year to Syracuse<\/a>\u2019s Uche Izoje<\/a> now. Izoje has earned seven of the 16 Rookie of the Week honors. The next-closest, Stanford<\/a>\u2019s Lara Somfai<\/a>, has four. Izoje is just one of four ACC freshmen<\/a> since at least the 2009-10 season to average at least 12 points and eight rebounds while playing at least 20 games and 20 minutes per game.<\/p>\n

Now, when it comes to Player of the Year, the question of what defines the \u201cbest\u201d or \u201cmost valuable\u201d player in a given league is not a new one.<\/p>\n

The main dichotomy in such debates tends to be between the shiniest stat lines, regardless of team record, versus the best player on the best team, even if the individual stats jump off the page a little less.<\/p>\n

The former argument hands the award to Notre Dame<\/a>\u2019s Hannah Hidalgo<\/a> for a second consecutive season. She has scored 25 points in 15 of her team\u2019s games this season, more than double the number of the player with the second most, Virginia<\/a>\u2019s Kymora Johnson<\/a>. Hidalgo also has 14 games with five or more steals, nearly triple that of any other player in the conference. Johnson outpaces Hidalgo for the most games with five or more assists, notching 21 to Hidalgo\u2019s 15, with Virginia Tech<\/a>\u2019s Mackenzie Nelson<\/a> between them with 18.<\/p>\n

If you put those three stat marks together, Hidalgo has six games with at least those numbers, the only ACC player to have more than one such game. Overall, she\u2019s on track to finish the season in the nation\u2019s top 30 in points, steals, and assists per game. It\u2019s a feat she accomplished during her freshman year; no other Division I player over the last five seasons has finished in the top 30 in these three categories.<\/p>\n

That said, if the tournament started today, Hidalgo\u2019s Notre Dame<\/a> team would be the No. 9 seed. If the last two games of the season go as the HHS prediction model thinks, plus we give the Fighting Irish a bump via a win over Louisville<\/a> in the Yum! Center, a game our predictor gives Notre Dame<\/a> just a 27.1% chance of winning, they finish with the No. 6 seed. Good, but not amazing.<\/p>\n

Duke<\/a> has been the best team in the ACC all season. They are beating conference opponents by an average of 22 points per game, 5.4 points clear of second-place Louisville.<\/p>\n

Leading the way is last season\u2019s Rookie of the Year, Toby Fournier<\/a>. When you look at her player page, there\u2019s an awful lot of dark green, meaning she\u2019s among the top 10% in the country in those categories. Plus, as her head coach Kara Lawson put it, in a not-so-subtle campaign stump speech: \u201cI think winning matters. I think it does for awards and for player of the year and for all-conference, it matters. It matters that you impact winning. It matters that your team wins\u2026 I think you\u2019d be hard-pressed to find more than [a number you can count] on one hand a forward that impacts winning more than Fournier.\u201d Lawson isn\u2019t wrong, though, even though, as she puts it, \u201c everybody likes their player.\u201d<\/p>\n

None. Lots of good performances, no epic standouts, plus a lot else going on at the moment.<\/p>\n

Please note: SIDs and coaches submit the players they want considered, we don\u2019t have free rein to pick anyone<\/p>\n

Votes for the week of 2\/16:<\/p>\n

Marissa\u2019s Player of the Week: Sophie Burrows<\/a>, Syracuse<\/a><\/p>\n

Marissa\u2019s Rookie of the Week: Uche Izoje<\/a>, Syracuse<\/a><\/p>\n

Actual Player of the Week: Sophie Burrows<\/a>, Syracuse<\/a><\/p>\n

Actual Rookie of the Week: Theresa Hagans Jr.<\/a>, Pitt<\/a><\/p>\n

Burrows averaged 18.5 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 assists for the Orange last week, and recorded a career-high 16 rebounds in Syracuse<\/a>\u2019s big win over Clemson<\/a>, but her most impressive stat over the course of the two games is her single turnover in the 57 minutes she played.<\/p>\n

For Rookie of the Week, I once again looked past a bit of an all-time performance because of the \u201cL\u201d the player\u2019s team took in the game, and I probably shouldn\u2019t have. Hagans Jr.\u2019s 33-point, six-steal, six-assist, three-rebound performance is just the 13th such performance since the 2009-10 season. Those 33 points are also the most by a conference first-year since Hannah Hidalgo<\/a> did it in February of 2024.<\/p>\n

Votes for the week of 2\/23:<\/p>\n

Marissa\u2019s Player of the Week: Hannah Hidalgo<\/a>, Notre Dame<\/a><\/p>\n

Marissa\u2019s Rookie of the Week: Uche Izoje<\/a>, Syracuse<\/a><\/p>\n

Actual Player of the Week: Hannah Hidalgo<\/a>, Notre Dame<\/a><\/p>\n

Actual Rookie of the Week: Uche Izoje<\/a>, Syracuse<\/a><\/p>\n

With all due respect to Kymora Johnson<\/a> of Virginia<\/a> and Demeara Hinds<\/a> of Clemson<\/a>, who led the way in their teams\u2019 upsets of Louisville<\/a> and Duke<\/a>, respectively, there were two players that I thought had the best argument for Player of the Week: NC State<\/a>\u2019s Khamil Pierre<\/a> and Notre Dame<\/a>\u2019s Hannah Hidalgo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pierre had a huge game in what was essentially a must-win game for the Wolfpack if they wanted to hold on the last double-bye slot. She scored 25 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in NC State<\/a>\u2019s win over the team they\u2019re competing with for that top-four seed, Syracuse<\/a>, getting the best of presumptive Rookie of the Year Uche Izoje<\/a>. That said, her somewhat underwhelming performance in the Wolfpack\u2019s loss to Duke<\/a> dropped her out of the top slot for player of the week.<\/p>\n

Hidalgo\u2019s Fighting Irish went 2-0 over the past week, although against weaker competition than Pierre\u2019s Wolfpack. That said, Hidalgo\u2019s dominating performances in both games earned her the nod, as she averaged 28.5 points, 7.0 steals, 7.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists over the course of the week, also only missing a triple-double against SMU<\/a> by a single rebound. Her 11 steals against the Mustangs marked her fourth double-digit steals performance of the season, the most in the country.<\/p>\n

The ACC Tournament starts in six days. Where on earth did the season go?!?!?!<\/p>\n

That said, the last two games of the regular season have big implications for some teams in determining which seed line they land on. I don\u2019t think Florida State<\/a> can go to Cameron and beat Duke<\/a>, and I don\u2019t see Louisville<\/a> losing to Georgia Tech<\/a>, even with the game in Atlanta. But even if the Blue Devils lose to their rivals in Chapel Hill on Sunday and Notre Dame<\/a> exacts revenge for its home loss to Louisville<\/a> by beating the Cardinals in the KFC Yum! Center, Duke<\/a> and Louisville<\/a> will be the top two seeds in Duluth.<\/p>\n

Assuming Duke<\/a> beats Florida State<\/a> at home, a game we have as a 27.1-point Blue Devil win, and NC State<\/a> beats Wake Forest<\/a> at home, a game we have as a 23.4-point Wolfpack win, the last game will determine who between the Seminoles and Demon Deacons will be No. 14 and who will be No. 15, as they face off in Winston-Salem to close the season.<\/p>\n

Most of the other results cause similar fluctuations of just a seed line or two, but Notre Dame<\/a> could land as high as fourth if it wins out (and gets some help). However, the Fighting Irish fall to 10th if they lose to Syracuse<\/a> and at Louisville<\/a>. Virginia<\/a>, who just upset the Cardinals, could land anywhere from No. 3 to No. 8. I think the Cavaliers have the hardest closing schedule of any team in the conference, starting with the game they played on Sunday in Louisville. Their opponent tonight, North Carolina<\/a>, could land anywhere No. 3 to No. 6, and the game at John Paul Jones Arena in a few hours goes further in determining where on that spectrum they land than the big rivalry match at Carmichael on Sunday.<\/p>\n

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Thanks for reading the Her Hoop Stats newsletter. We\u2019re excited to announce a new partnership with Hudl<\/a>. Hudl\u2019s industry-leading tools – Sportscode, Instat, and Fastmodel – elevate the preparation, performance, and player development of WNBA and NCAA teams. We appreciate their support and look forward to working with them to help bring more insight about the women\u2019s game to you.<\/p>\n

You can find me on Bluesky<\/a> and HHS on Bluesky<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n