Notre Dame lost to Connecticut in the national title showdown on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday its hopes for the 2016 national title also suffered an early hit.

Junior guard Jewell Loyd, a two-time All-American and espnW's National Player of the Year this past season, declared herself eligible for the WNBA draft that will be held April 16.

"I am incredibly grateful for my experience at Notre Dame and the support I have received from Coach [Muffet] McGraw, our staff, my teammates and the entire ND community," Loyd said in a statement to the Associated Press. "I have grown as a woman and as a basketball player and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of such an inspiring community."

"We appreciate all that Jewell has done for our program and the University of Notre Dame during her time here," Fighting Irish head coach Muffet McGraw said. "We understand this was not an easy decision. We wish her nothing but happiness and success at the next level."

The Irish were 108-6 in Loyd's three seasons, each ending with a loss to Connecticut in the Final Four, the last two in the national title game. This season, Loyd became the fifth consensus first-team All-America selection in Fighting Irish women's basketball history and one of four to be a two-time All-American (not including honorable mention citations), joining Ruth Riley, Skylar Diggins and Kayla McBride.

Despite struggling in the last five games of this year's NCAA Tournament in which she made only 28 of 96 field goal attempts (29.2 percent), and missed all eight second-half shots against UConn, Loyd's scoring average of 19.8 points per game tied for the third-highest mark in school history. Loyd holds the school record with seven career 30-point games and ranks fifth with 35 career 20-point games.

Earlier this week, Minnesota sophomore center Amanda Zahui B. also decided to leave school early for the WNBA Draft. Back in 2008, Candace Parker left Tennessee after her junior year and was the No. 1 pick in the draft.

Connecticut and Notre Dame were favored to meet for the national title a third straight year in 2016, but Loyd's early departure might change the landscape a bit, although the Irish will still have eight McDonald's All-Americans on the roster.

Headlining the cast will be frontcourt players Brianna Turner (13.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game as a freshman) and Taya Reimer (10.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore). Also returning to the starting lineup are current sophomore point guard Lindsay Allen (10.4 points per game and a team high 205 assists) and three-point specialist Michaela Mabrey (7.2 points per game), Loyd's classmate.

Enrolling will be the nation's No. 3 recruiting class that features three McDonald's High School All-America guards — McDonald's High School All-America Game co-MVP and 2015 Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year Marina Mabrey, three-time Wisconsin Player of the Year Arike Ogunbowale and 2015 Indiana Miss Basketball Ali Patberg.

"Our focus remains the same as it was moments after Tuesday night's national championship game ended," McGraw said of returning to at least a sixth straight Final Four. "… The future is so bright for our program and we couldn't be more excited to get started with our preparations for the 2015-16 season."