Virginia guard Monica Wright was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year as announced today by Commissioner John Swofford. "Monnie is the real deal," head coach Debbie Ryan said. "She has an aura. And one of the best parts of her game is the one that people don't necessarily give her credit for, and that's her play off the ball.
This season, Wright, who also earned ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, ranked in the top-10 in the league in four statistical categories and became Virginia's all-time leading scorer. The Woodbridge, Va., native was the only player in the conference to average better than 20 points per game, scoring at a 23.0 points per game pace, and also averaged 3.6 steals per game to lead the league. Additionally, Wright shot 80.7 percent (151-of-187) from the free throw line and averaged 31.9 minutes per contest to rank second and fifth, respectively.
Wright continued to climb the ACC career scoring chart throughout the season and broke Virginia legend Dawn Staley's career record with 20 points in a Jan. 11 contest against Maryland, and currently has 2,474 career points. She sits just 214 points shy of former Duke national player of the year Alana Beard, who ranks second in ACC history.