Junior forward Brianna Turner, who leads Notre Dame with 15.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, will miss the remainder of the 2016-17 season due to a torn ACL in her left knee, the team announced in a press release Tuesday.
Turner, who is on the Wooden Award national ballot and received her second consecutive ACC Defensive Player of the Year award earlier this season, suffered the noncontact injury during the final minute of the first half of Sunday’s NCAA tournament second-round clash with ninth-seeded Purdue. The top-seeded Irish, leading by 14 points at the time of the injury, eventually won the game in overtime. Turner had scored eight points in the two minutes prior to the injury and was attempting to catch a lob pass when she sustained it. After walking off the court with assistance from the team’s trainers, Turner did not return to the game.
Turner looked set to complete her first fully healthy season for the Irish in 2016-17, as she missed time with a shoulder injury in each of the two previous seasons before undergoing surgery in the offseason.
The Irish will play No. 5 seed Ohio State in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament Friday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.
