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Earlier this morning, the ACC announced the conference's individual awards for the 2019-2020 season. BC’s own Taylor Soule and Joanna Bernabei-McNamee both picked up awards today, with Taylor Soule being named the ACC’s Most Improved Player and Coach Mac earning ACC Coach of the Year honors. This is BC’s first time earning either of these honors in the ACC, and the first time the program has had the conference coach of the year since Cathy Inglese won it with the Big East during the 1998-99 season.
Soule, a sophomore, earned an All-ACC honorable mention and was named to the Blue Ribbon Panel Second Team earlier this week as well. She leads the Eagles with 14.2 points per game and 8 rebounds per game, and has recorded an impressive 10 double-doubles this season. She has scored in the double digits in 21 games as a sophomore, including a career high 29 points against North Carolina.
These stats are impressive on their own, but are particularly huge when you consider that as a freshman, Soule averaged 7.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, meaning she has essentially doubled her output in both categories. This season Soule also recorded strong shooting percentages, making 54.9% of her field goals and 71.1% of her free throws. She has recorded field goal percentages over 80% in 2 games this season as well.
Coach McNamee, in just her second season at BC, could not be more deserving of the Coach of the Year honor. She coached the Eagles to their first winning season in years, their best overall record (18-11) since the 2010-11 season, and their best ACC record (11-7) in program history. The 11-7 conference record is BC’s most in-conference wins since the 2003-04 Big East season. Coach McNamee also made a huge jump from last year, her first with the team, when BC went 14-16 overall and 3-13 in the ACC.
Heading into this season, the Eagles were projected to finish 13th in the ACC. Coach Mac got BC to finish the regular season tied at 4th in the conference. She led BC to a road victory over #14 FSU, the Eagles’ first win over Syracuse since 2005-06, and the program’s first season sweep against Notre Dame. Next up. McNamee will coach her team in the ACC Tournament, where BC earned a 6 seed.