Diggins named MVP, Woody Miller Player of the Year

NOTRE DAME — Senior guard/co-captain Skylar Diggins was chosen as the recipient of both the Notre Dame Monogram Club Most Valuable Player and Woody Miller Player of the Year awards, it was announced Tuesday night during the 2012-13 Notre Dame Women’s Basketball Awards Banquet in the Joyce Center Fieldhouse.

In addition, four other Fighting Irish players received individual honors as part of the year-end celebration.

An overflow crowd of approximately 1,200 people was in attendance (matching the crowds from the previous two years as the largest in banquet history), as Notre Dame enjoyed one of the finest seasons in program history in 2012-13, rolling to a 35-2 record, including a school-record 30-game winning streak, and the school’s third consecutive NCAA Women’s Final Four appearance as well as its fifth overall.

In addition, the Fighting Irish claimed their second consecutive outright Big East Conference regular season title (and third in school history) with a perfect 16-0 record before defeating host Connecticut in the Big East Championship title game to secure the program’s first Big East postseason crown in its 18th and final season in the conference. It marked the first time in 20 years that a team other than Connecticut swept the Big East regular season and tournament titles in the same year, while the Fighting Irish became only the third non-Connecticut squad to go undefeated in Big East play (first since Rutgers in 2005-06).

Notre Dame also posted a rare team milestone, becoming the only school since 2001-02 to have two seasons in which four players scored at least 450 points, pulling off that feat the past two years (the only other schools to do it even once are Connecticut in 2001-02 and Maryland in 2007-08).

What’s more, the Fighting Irish set or tied no fewer than 15 single-season school records — wins (35), winning percentage (.946), fewest losses (2), conference winning percentage (1.000), longest winning streak (30), scoring average (81.2 ppg.), most 90-point games (10), most 100-point games (3), field goals attempted (2,400), free throw percentage (.798), rebounds (1,621), rebounding margin (+10.9 rpg.), assists (722), assist/turnover ratio (1.27) and double-doubles (25).

Notre Dame piled up a 12-2 record against ranked opponents this season, including six wins against top-10 teams.

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