ST. LOUIS, Mo. (March 7, 2018) – Loyola University Chicago freshman Abby O'Connor (South Bend, Ind./St. Joseph) has been named to the Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball All-Freshman Team, it was announced on Wednesday by the league office.  Voting for all awards was conducted by MVC coaches, sports information directors and media members.
 
O'Connor, who is the first Rambler to earn MVC All-Freshman Team accolades since the 2016-17 campaign, started in all 29 games for head coach Kate Achter's team during the regular season.  A three-time MVC Newcomer of the Week honoree, O'Connor led all league freshmen in scoring, averaging a team-best 10.6 points per game to go along with 5.4 rebounds per game, a mark that also put her first on the Loyola roster.  She currently ranks in the top 10 on the league charts in both free throw percentage (4^th, .855) and blocked shots (7^th, 1.1 bpg)
 
O'Connor reached double figures in scoring a staggering 18 times during her first campaign in Rogers Park.  The 6-foot-0 forward reached the 20-point mark on a pair of separate occasions, highlighted by a 24-point performance as part of a thrilling 62-59 victory over in-state rival Illinois State back on January 7.  O'Connor finished with at least 10 points in 13 of the Ramblers' 18 Valley contests.  
 
Loyola, which enters the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament as the number nine seed, will take on eighth-seeded Valparaiso in an opening-round tilt at 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon from inside the TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Ill.