Mills named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year


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Best of the best · Junior defender Kayla Mills was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday. She is one of five Women of Troy to be honored. - Brian Ji | Daily Trojan

Best of the best · Junior defender Kayla Mills was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday. She is one of five Women of Troy to be honored. – Brian Ji | Daily Trojan

Junior defender Kayla Mills was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday while five other Trojans received Pac-12 honors as well.

Mills also earned All-Pac-12 first team honors for the second time in her career. She was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week earlier this season. Mills started all of USC’s 20 games this season and finished with two goals and four assists. Mills and the rest of the USC defense tied for first in the Pac-12 with only five goals allowed in conference play. The Women of Troy played for 336 consecutive minutes, spanning five games, without allowing a goal.

Notre Dame transfer Morgan Andrews was also a Pac-12 first team honoree in her first season in the Pac-12. Andrews led the Trojans with seven goals on the season, including three game-winning goals. She also led the conference with 80 shots on goal. Her six goals and 18 points were enough to tie for third and finish sixth, respectively.

The Women of Troy have not had two All-Pac-12 first team honorees since 2005, when Amy Rodriguez and Rosa Anna Tantillo took home the awards.

Junior defender Mandy Freeman was named to the      All-Pac-12 second team, her third-straight season earning Pac-12 honors. Her nine points this year tied her for third on the team and she led the team with five assists. She was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week earlier this season.

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Sammy Jo Prudhomme was recognized with All-Pac-12 honorable mention. Her .54 goals against average led the Pac-12 and ranked 12th nationally. Her 10 shutouts this season are enough to land her in third place on USC’s                                                         single-season list. She had a total of 61 saves in 1,820 minutes played in USC’s 20 games.

The four All-Pac-12 honorees are the most for the Trojans since 2010.

Freshman defender Ally Prisock was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team. Prisock had 14 complete games on the season. She led the Women of Troy in minutes played.

Mills and the Trojans will face Cal State Fullerton on Friday at 1 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA tournament at McAlister Field. It will be the first-ever NCAA event hosted there.