April 5, 2006
BOSTON – University of Notre Dame senior All-America guard Megan Duffy (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) became the sixth Irish women’s basketball player in as many years to be selected in the WNBA Draft when she was chosen in the third round (31st overall) by the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday at the 2006 WNBA Draft at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Duffy will join Minnesota’s top pick (and the No. 1 overall selection) Seimone Augustus of LSU, as well as Utah’s Shona Thorburn and BYU’s Ambrosia Anderson in making up the Lynx rookie class for 2006.
“First off, I can’t tell you how excited I am about the opportunity to be drafted by Minnesota, and to go into training camp, show what I can do and compete for a spot on the roster this season,” Duffy said. “The Lynx are a great organization from top to bottom, and they have one of the WNBA’s best and most knowledgeable fan bases.
“There’s a whole lot of talent on this team and I’m really looking forward to being a part of it,” Duffy continued. “Seimone and I had the chance to play together last year at the World University Games, and I’ve also known Tamika Williams for a long time going back to our days in Dayton. Then on top of that, I’ve played against Nicole (Ohlde), Amber (Jacobs), Kristen (Mann) and Shona (Thorburn) during my college career, and I already know how good they all are. We have a lot of the pieces in place to win a WNBA championship and I want to do all I can to contribute to making that a reality.”
Duffy is the latest in an extensive line of Notre Dame players who have been tapped in the WNBA Draft. In 2001, Ruth Riley (1st round, 5th overall) was chosen by the Miami Sol, followed by Niele Ivey (2nd round, 19th overall) to the Indiana Fever and Kelley Siemon (3rd round, 48th overall) by the Los Angeles Sparks. In 2002, Ericka Haney was taken in the third round (47th overall) by the Detroit Shock, and last year, Jacqueline Batteast was a second-round selection (17th overall) by Minnesota.
However, Batteast and Duffy will not be teammates in Minnesota, as the Lynx dealt the South Bend native Batteast and a 2007 draft pick to Detroit for the rights to Anderson and a 2007 draft selection. In Detroit, Batteast will play alongside Riley for head coach Bill Laimbeer (Notre Dame ’78).
Duffy ranked among the top 10 in the BIG EAST Conference this season in scoring (7th – 15.6 ppg.), assists (8th – 4.13 apg.), steals (tie-6th – 1.97 spg.), free throw percentage (1st – .888), three-pointers made per game (6th – 1.93) and assist/turnover ratio (9th – 1.72). She also was 10th in the nation in free throw percentage, 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 games, the longest such streak by a Notre Dame player since Riley had 22 consecutive double-digit scoring games during the Irish national championship season of 2000-01.
In addition to becoming the second Irish player to win the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (top senior 5-foot-8 and under), Duffy was presented with numerous other honors this season. She was tapped as an All-American by three organizations (second team by Full Court Press, honorable mention by Kodak/WBCA and Associated Press) and was an ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-American, the second Irish women’s basketball player ever to be so honored. Furthermore, she was a unanimous first-team all-BIG EAST pick (her second consecutive first-team citation), the BIG EAST/Aeropostale Scholar-Athlete of the Year, a two-time BIG EAST Player of the Week (Jan. 23 and Feb. 27) and a three-time BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll choice.
Duffy ranks among the top 10 in school history in 12 career categories, most notably free throw percentage (2nd – .859), where she is 15th in NCAA history. She also is 13th in the Irish record books with 1,290 career points, and started 94 of her final 95 Notre Dame games, including a career-ending streak of 67 in a row, dating back to the beginning of the 2003-04 season.
Duffy and the other Minnesota rookies will get their first chance to meet the Lynx faithful on Saturday when the team holds its annual “Select-A-Seat” event at the Target Center from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (CT). Minnesota coaches and players, including Duffy and the Lynx rookies, will be on hand to sign autographs. Minnesota opens its training camp April 23, with preseason games slated for May 13 at 7 p.m. CT (vs. Seattle at University of Minnesota) and on a date to be determined at Phoenix. The 10th anniversary season of the WNBA gets underway for the Lynx on May 23 when they play host to the reigning Eastern Conference champion Connecticut Sun at the Target Center (8 p.m. CT tip time).
— ND —