GREENSBORO, N.C. – Following a historic regular season, three Clemson Tigers were honored with All-ACC recognition on Tuesday, as announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference. Junior Kobi Thornton was tabbed to the All-ACC Second Team, while guards Simone Westbrook and Danielle Edwards earned spots on the ACC All-Defensive Team.
With her Second Team nod by the league’s coaches, Thornton became the first Clemson player to earn a spot on the all-conference team (First or Second) since 2010 (Lele Hardy, Second Team). Thornton finished the regular season averaging 14.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, placing her in 15th and 11th, respectively, among ACC players in those categories.
The Shellman, Ga. native has totaled nine double-doubles on the season with seven 20-point outings. She is just four points from reaching the 1,000-career point mark and will become just the 15th player in Clemson history to eclipse 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
“Kobi is a matchup nightmare for defenses because she scores in unpredictable ways, she can rebound and block shots, but she’s also willing to take a charge,” said head coach Amanda Butler. “At the heart of Kobi is that she has a desire to be a great teammate and that makes her a great basketball player.”
In the backcourt, the duo of Westbrook and Edwards have been nothing short of dominant this season, combining for 161 steals. The pair finished the season in first (Westbrook, 2.9) and second (Edwards, 2.8) in steals per game and represent the only school in the nation with two players in the top 20 for total steals.
Edwards currently ranks third in program history for career steals (287) and becomes the third Clemson player to make back-to-back appearances on the ACC All-Defensive Team (Erin Batth, 00-01 and Lele Hardy, 09-10). Westbrook sits in sixth in program history for the single-season steals per game record (2.9) just one-tenth away from breaking into the top five (Barbara Kennedy, 3.0).
Clemson is one of just four ACC schools (Duke, Notre Dame, Syracuse) in conference history to put two players on the All-Defensive Team. This is also just the third time since the inception of the All-Defensive Team (1999-2000) that a pair of guards from the same school made the cut.
“I don’t think there is a better backcourt in the country than Simone and Dani,” said Butler. “They do an excellent job of pressuring the ball and they bring a high level of energy to our game, which is a confident, aggressive style of play.”
The Tigers are back in action on Thursday when they play the winner of Virginia Tech/Wake Forest in a second round game in the ACC Tournament. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. and the game will air on RSN.
