NEW YORK – Without Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, the UNC women’s basketball team likely wouldn’t have made it to the ACC championship game and the NCAA Round of the 32, and the Associated Press recognized that.

The senior guard was received an honorable mention on the AP All-America team. Ruffin-Pratt led the team with 15.5 points per game, more than 4.5 assists per game, and nearly three steals per game.

Despite being knocked out of the NCAA tournament early as a No. 3 seed by No. 6 Delaware on its home court, Carolina saw a big turnaround from last season. The Tar Heels missed the Big Dance last year and Coach Sylvia Hatchell said she would not accept a bid to the WNIT if the team didn’t make it to the NCAAs. This year, with the help of Ruffin-Pratt, UNC finished second in the ACC, took down a highly-ranked Maryland team two out of three times, and won the WNIT Preseason tournament, among other accolades.

Ruffin-Pratt was also named to the first team All-ACC roster this year for her efforts.

Waltiea Rolle and Krista Gross are also graduating from UNC, but the Tar Heels return ten players.