UNCASVILLE, Conn. — For the fourth consecutive year, the University of Notre Dame women’s basketball program was represented near the top of the first round in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Draft, as junior guard Jewell Loyd (Lincolnwood, Ill./Niles West) was selected by the Seattle Storm with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 WNBA Draft that was held Thursday night at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Loyd is the first No. 1 WNBA draft selection in school history, with three Fighting Irish alumnae previously sharing the honor as the highest player chosen in program annals — Devereaux Peters (’11) went third overall in the 2012 WNBA Draft to the Minnesota Lynx, Skylar Diggins (’13) followed suit in 2013 when she was chosen third by the Tulsa Shock, and Kayla McBride (’14) most recently was selected in that No. 3 spot last year by the San Antonio Stars.

Loyd announced last week she would forego her senior season at Notre Dame to enter the WNBA Draft, an option available to her due to a league rule that permits players to submit their name for draft consideration if they will turn 22 years old during the calendar year of the draft (Loyd’s 22nd birthday is October 5).

Loyd is less than two weeks removed from helping lead Notre Dame to its fifth consecutive NCAA Women’s Final Four appearance and fourth national championship game berth in five years. The Fighting Irish posted a 108-6 (.947) record during her three seasons, winning three consecutive outright conference regular-season titles (2013 in the BIG EAST; 2014 and 2015 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) and three consecutive conference tournament crowns (2013 in BIG EAST; 2014 and 2015 in ACC), while posting a staggering 47-1 (.979) regular season league record in the past three seasons (57-1 including postseason tournament play), including undefeated 19-0 combined regular season/tournament records in 2013 (BIG EAST) and 2014 (ACC – the first-ever by a league member in its inaugural season and first by any ACC squad since 2002-03).

In 2014-15, Loyd became the fifth Fighting Irish player to garner consensus first-team All-America honors. She collected first-team All-America citations this season from the Associated Press (unanimous selection), the John R. Wooden Award, Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), United States Basketball Writers’ Association (USBWA) and espnW, which also chose her as the espnW National Player of the Year, the first Notre Dame player to earn a national player-of-the-year award since Riley in 2001.

In addition to being the runner-up for AP National Player of the Year and the Wooden Award, and a finalist for the Honda Sports Award, Loyd also was in contention for several other national player-of-the-year honors including the WBCA Wade Trophy, USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, Naismith Trophy and Dawn Staley Award (the latter given to the nation’s top guard).

Loyd was a two-time All-America selection in her college career, having split first- and second-team honors from numerous outlets as a sophomore in 2013-14. She is one of four players in program history to be a two-time All-American (not including honorable mention citations) while at Notre Dame, joining Riley, Diggins (2011-13) and McBride (2013-14) in that exclusive company.