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Women's Basketball

Three Hokies earn All-Conference honors Monday

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Regular-season champion Louisville placed three players on the 2019-20 All-ACC Women's Basketball Teams, which were selected by the league's Blue Ribbon Panel and the conference's 15 head coaches.
 
Dana Evans and Jazmine Jones represent the top-seeded Cardinals on both the Blue Ribbon Panel and Head Coaches All-ACC first teams. Kylee Shook also earned a spot on the Blue Ribbon Panel first team, while securing second team honors from the coaches.
 
Florida State placed Nicki Ekhomu and Kiah Gillespie on both first teams. Duke's Haley Gorecki, NC State's Elissa Cunane, Syracuse's Kiara Lewis and Virginia's Jocelyn Willoughby were each named first team selections by both the Blue Ribbon Panel and the coaches.

North Carolina's Janelle Bailey was a first team honoree for the Blue Ribbon Panel and Aisha Sheppard of Virginia Tech claimed the same from the coaches, while being named a second team selection by the BRP.

Boston College's Emma Guy was tabbed first team by the league's head coaches and second team by the Blue Ribbon Panel.
 
Both the Blue Ribbon Panel and Coaches All-ACC Freshman Teams feature Clemson's Amari Robinson, NC State's Jakia Brown-Turner, North Carolina's Malu Tshitenge, Notre Dame's Katlyn Gilbert and Sam Brunelle, Pitt's Dayshanette Harris and Virginia Tech's Elizabeth Kitley.

Jada Boyd of NC State earned All-Freshman honors from the league's head coaches, while Notre Dame's Anaya Peoples was named to the Blue Ribbon Panel's Freshman team.
 
The Coaches also selected the 2019-20 ACC All-Defensive Team which features Duke's Gorecki, Louisville's Jones and Shook, Miami's Mykea Gray and Virginia Tech's Taja Cole.

The ACC Player, Rookie, Coach, Defensive Player and Sixth Player of the Year will be announced on Tuesday, March 3, at 9 a.m. on ACC Network's Packer and Durham Show.
 
The 43rd annual ACC Women's Basketball Tournament will be played this Wednesday (March 4) through Sunday (March 8).The tournament will feature all 15 ACC teams and 14 games, beginning with three first-round matchups on Wednesday. Four second-round games are scheduled for Thursday, followed by the quarterfinals on Friday, the semifinals on Saturday and the championship game on Sunday at noon.

2019-20 All-ACC Team (as voted on by the league's Blue Ribbon Panel) 
First Team 
Haley Gorecki, Gr., G, Duke
Kiah Gillespie, Sr., F, Florida State
Nicki Ekhomu, Sr., G, Florida State
Dana Evans, Jr., G, Louisville
Jazmine Jones, Sr., G, Louisville
Kylee Shook, Sr., F, Louisville
Elissa Cunane, So., C, NC State
Janelle Bailey, Jr., C, North Carolina
Kiara Lewis, Jr., G, Syracuse
Jocelyn Willoughby, Sr., G, Virginia
 
Second Team 
Emma Guy, Sr., F, Boston College
Taylor Soule, So., F, Boston College
Leaonna Odom, Sr., F, Duke
Aisha Sheppard, Jr., G, Virginia Tech
Ivana Raca, Sr., F, Wake Forest

Honorable Mention
Francesca Pan, Sr., G, Georgia Tech
Aislinn Konig, Sr., G, NC State
Taylor Koenen, Sr., G, North Carolina
Destinee Walker, Gr., G, Notre Dame
Taja Cole, Gr., G, Virginia Tech

All-ACC Freshman Team 
Amari Robinson, G, Clemson
Jakia Brown-Turner, G, NC State
Malu Tshitenge, F, North Carolina
Sam Brunelle, F, Notre Dame
Katlyn Gilbert, G, Notre Dame
Anaya Peoples, G, Notre Dame
Dayshanette Harris, G, Pitt
Elizabeth Kitley, C, Virginia Tech

2019-20 All-ACC Team (as voted on by the league's head coaches) 
First Team 
Emma Guy, Sr., F, Boston College
Haley Gorecki, Gr., G, Duke
Kiah Gillespie, Sr., F, Florida State
Nicki Ekhomu, Sr., G, Florida State
Dana Evans, Jr., G, Louisville
Jazmine Jones, Sr., G, Louisville
Elissa Cunane, So., C, NC State
Kiara Lewis, Jr., G, Syracuse
Jocelyn Willoughby, Sr., G, Virginia
Aisha Sheppard, Jr., G, Virginia Tech
 
Second Team 
Leaonna Odom, Sr., F, Duke
Francesca Pan, Sr., G, Georgia Tech
Kylee Shook, Sr., F, Louisville
Aislinn Konig, Sr., G, NC State
Ivana Raca, Sr., F, Wake Forest

Honorable Mention
Taylor Soule, So., F, Boston College
Janelle Bailey, Jr., C, North Carolina
Taylor Koenen, Sr., G, North Carolina
 
All-ACC Freshman Team 
Amari Robinson, G, Clemson
Jada Boyd, F, NC State
Jakia Brown-Turner, G, NC State
Malu Tshitenge, F, North Carolina
Sam Brunelle, F, Notre Dame
Katlyn Gilbert, G, Notre Dame
Dayshanette Harris, G, Pitt
Elizabeth Kitley, C, Virginia Tech
 
All-ACC Defensive Team 
Haley Gorecki, Gr., G, Duke
Jazmine Jones, Sr., G, Louisville
Kylee Shook, Sr., F, Louisville
Mykea Gray, Jr., G, Miami
Taja Cole, Gr., G, Virginia Tech

Representing the Hokies were Aisha Sheppard (first team), Elizabeth Kitley an All-Freshman selection and Taja Cole, one of five chosen on the league's All-Defensive Team as well as an honorable mention selection by the Blue Ribbon Panel.
 
Aisha Sheppard
Sheppard had a stellar junior campaign, leading the Hokies in scoring at 15.21 points per game, the eighth-best average in the league. She scored in double figures in 24 of the Hokies' contests and set a new personal best with a 32-point effort at home against Virginia. 
 
The conference's leader in 3-point field goals, Sheppard twice notched eight made triples in a game tying the program record as well as marking the most by an ACC player this season. She ranked second in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.378).
 
Her 84 made triples are a program record for a single season and for her career, Sheppard has cemented herself in second place all-time at Virginia Tech with 219.
 
She connected on six triples in the Hokies' win over Wichita State, where the team set a new program mark for 3's in a game with 18. 
 
In the regular season finale, Sheppard eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her career becoming the 28th member of Virginia Tech's 1,000-point club.
 


 
Elizabeth Kitley
Kitley's impact on the court was felt from the opening tip, where she scored 27 points in her collegiate debut, going 13 for 15 from the field. That debut was the second-best in program history and her 13 made field goals are the most by any conference player all season.
 
The Summerfield, North Carolina native who was tabbed as the conference's Freshman of the Week three times, the most of any rookie averaged 12.4 points per game and 7.6 rebounds. Kitley was second in the ACC with 60 blocks and recorded a league-best eight in the Hokies' victory at Notre Dame.
 
Kitley registered six double-doubles on the season and is second in the conference in field goal percentage (.564).
 
The freshman center finds her season totals littering the Virginia Tech record book with her 60 blocks ranking sixth all-time, 56.4% shooting percentage sixth, and her conference field goal percentage (.573) and block total (41) setting new records.

She started every game for the Hokies this season.
 


 
Taja Cole
 
Cole, a grad transfer, started every game for the Hokies and led the conference in assists with 191, the third-highest total in the nation. On the defensive end she recorded 42 steals averaging 1.45 per game.
 
She registered four double-doubles on the season, two of the points-rebounds variety and two of the points-assists variety. 
 
Cole averaged 9.7 points per contest, 6.6 assists and 5.0 rebounds. Her 1.80 assist to turnover ratio ranked fourth in the league.
 
Amongst seasons in Blacksburg for a point guard, Cole's ranks amongst the best with her assist total ranking as the third-highest as well as her assist to turnover ratio. 
 
The Richmond, Virginia native who averaged nearly 34 minutes per game, set a new record for minutes played in an ACC season by a Hokie as well as her 121 league assists setting a new mark. No Hokie has ever dished out more assists in a single ACC contest than when Cole registered 11 in the win at Notre Dame.
 
Cole's 528 career assists place her 16th amongst active players in Division 1, in 91 games. Her total is the highest for anyone who has played in less than 103 games.