March 27, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame senior guards Chris Quinn (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) and Megan Duffy (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) have been chosen to participate in the three-point competition at the Dell presents The College Basketball Slam Dunk and Three-Point Shooting Championships, which will take place Thursday at 7 p.m. (ET) at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler University campus in Indianapolis, site of this year’s NCAA Final Four. The event is being produced by Intersport, a Chicago-based media group, and will be televised by ESPN on a tape-delayed basis Thursday at 9 p.m. (ET).
Tickets for the live event are $10 for adults, $8 for students and those under 18 years of age, and may be purchased through TicketMaster by calling (317) 239-5151, visiting a local TicketMaster outlet or going on-line to the TicketMaster web site (www.ticketmaster.com). In addition, tickets are available on the Butler University campus at the Clowes Memorial Hall Box Office (4602 Sunset Avenue), which is open weekdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET).
Quinn and Duffy are the fifth and sixth Notre Dame basketball players selected for this event, although this will mark the first time the Irish have had both a man and woman compete in their respective competitions in the same year. Sheila McMillen (1999), Martin Ingelsby (2001), David Graves (2002) and Alicia Ratay (2003) also have represented Notre Dame in the three-point shootout, but none advanced beyond the semifinal round.
Both competitions will feature eight of the top college senior sharpshooters in the country. Among the others joining Quinn in this year’s men’s three-point competition are Steve Novak (Marquette), Kevin Pittsnogle (West Virginia) and Bruce Horan (Butler). On the women’s side, Duffy will match up against the likes of Cappie Pondexter (Rutgers), Nikki Blue (UCLA), Erin Grant (Texas Tech) and Tamara James (Miami, Fla.). The winners from the men’s and women’s events then will face off in a challenge match to determine an overall three-point champion.
Quinn, an All-America selection by both CBS Sportsline.com (third team) and the Associated Press (honorable mention), averaged career-bests of 17.7 points and 6.4 assists with a .419 three-point percentage this season en route to first-team all-BIG EAST Conference honors. He was the fourth player under Irish head coach Mike Brey and fifth overall in the program’s history to receive first-team all-conference recognition. In addition, Quinn was awarded the league’s Sportsmanship Award and was a member of the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America® First Team.
A three-year starter, he scored in double figures in 27 games this season and topped the 30-point mark on four occasions (all in BIG EAST play). Quinn was one of just three players in Notre Dame history to score 30-plus points in four conference games in a single season, joining Pat Garrity (1997-98) and Troy Murphy (1999-2000) in that elite club. Quinn averaged a career-best 20.2 points per game in conference and is just the third Irish player to average better than 20 points per game in league play. Garrity did it twice in both 1996-97 (20.1) and 1997-98 (24.1), while Murphy averaged better than 20 points per game in both 1999-00 (21.7) and 2000-01 (22.8).
The two-time Irish captain played in 123 games during his career (and missed just two to injury) and made 82 starts. Quinn is one of eight players in school history to score more than 1,000 points and dish off better than 300 assists. He completed his career at Notre Dame with 1,454 points (11.8 ppg.) and 428 assists (3.5 apg.).
Duffy, the 2006 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award winner, a two-time Kodak/WBCA All-America Team finalist and a unanimous first-team all-BIG EAST choice, ranked among the top 10 in the conference this season in scoring (8th – 15.6 ppg.), assists (8th – 4.13 apg.), steals (6th – 1.97 spg.), free throw percentage (1st – .888), three-pointers made per game (7th – 1.93) and assist/turnover ratio (9th – 1.72). She also is 10th in the nation in free throw percentage (as of March 21), marking the second consecutive year she is among the top 10 nationally in that category, and her .888 mark was just shy of her own single-season school record (.895) that she set in 2004-05. In addition, Duffy scored in double figures 26 times in 30 games this season, including each of her final 15 outings, the longest such streak by a Notre Dame player in a single season since Ruth Riley had 22 consecutive double-digit scoring games during the Irish national championship campaign of 2000-01.
Duffy ranks among the top 10 in school history in 34 game, season or career statistical categories, most notably career free throw percentage (2nd – .859), where she is 15th in NCAA annals. She also is 13th in the Irish record books with 1,290 career points, and is one of only three players in the program’s history to amass 1,000 points, 500 assists and 200 steals during her career at Notre Dame (Karen Robinson from 1987-91 and Niele Ivey from 1996-2001 are the others). In addition, she stands among the nation’s most durable players, averaging 38.4 minutes per game as a senior and starting 94 of her final 95 games, including a career-ending streak of 67 in a row, dating back to the start of the 2003-04 season.
Off the court, Duffy joined Quinn as an ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA first-team Academic All-American, becoming the second Irish women’s basketball player and eighth BIG EAST female cager ever to be so honored. She also was tapped as the BIG EAST/Aeropostale Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the third Notre Dame player in the past six seasons to receive that award.
— ND —