Feb. 9, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame senior guard Megan Duffy (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne HS) has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V First Team, it was announced Thursday. It’s the second consecutive year that Duffy has been chosen for academic all-district honors (she was a second-team pick in 2004-05), and with her selection to the first team, Duffy now is eligible for Academic All-America honors, becoming the first Irish women’s basketball player to make the national ballot since Ruth Riley did so in three consecutive years (1999-2001). In 2000 and 2001, Riley earned first-team Academic All-America citations, in addition to being named the ’01 Academic All-America Team Member of the Year.
Duffy currently holds a 3.555 cumulative grade-point average in the College of Arts and Letters, where she is pursuing a double major in psychology and computer applications. She has earned Dean’s List honors in each of the past four semesters, including a 3.917 GPA in the spring 2005 term and a 3.821 GPA in the recently-completed fall 2005 semester.
Duffy continues a lengthy tradition of successful student-athletes in the Irish women’s basketball program. Seven times in the past seven seasons, a Notre Dame female cager has received academic all-district honors. Following Riley’s three-year run on the squad, Alicia Ratay was a second-team academic all-district choice in both 2002 and 2003. What’s more, the Notre Dame women’s basketball team has produced combined GPAs of 3.1 or better in 10 of the past 11 semesters (fall 2000 to present).
On the court, Duffy ranks among the top 11 in the BIG EAST Conference in scoring (10th – 15.7 ppg.), assists (6th – 4.27 apg.), steals (tie-7th – 2.05 spg.), free throw percentage (1st – .905), three-pointers made per game (tie-7th – 1.91) and assist/turnover ratio (11th – 1.74). She also is 10th in the nation in free throw percentage (as of Feb. 7), marking the second consecutive year she is among the top 10 nationally in that category, and her .905 mark is on pace to break her own single-season school record (.895) that she set in 2004-05. In addition, Duffy has scored in double figures 18 times in 22 games this season, including six 20-point games and a career-high 32 points in an overtime win vs. Marquette on Jan. 10.
A consensus preseason All-America selection this season, Duffy was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week on Jan. 23, and has been tapped for the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll three times in 2005-06. She ranks among the top 10 in school history in 10 different categories, most notably free throw percentage (2nd – .860), where she currently ranks 14th in NCAA history. She also is 17th in the Irish record books with 1,166 career points, and has started 86 of the past 87 Notre Dame games, including a current streak of 59 in a row, dating back to the start of the 2003-04 season.
Voting for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V Team was conducted by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) in that district, which encompasses Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. To qualify, student-athletes must hold at least sophomore status, own a minimum GPA of 3.2 or better, and be either a starter or key reserve for their team.
Joining Duffy on this year’s Academic All-District V First Team are Melanie Boeglin (Indiana State), April Calhoun (Minnesota), Betsy Rietema (Valparaiso) and Liz Podominick (Minnesota). Other BIG EAST Conference honorees include Connecticut’s Ann Strother (first team in District I) and DePaul’s Allie Quigley (second team in District V).
Notre Dame (14-8, 5-6 BIG EAST) will be back on the hardwood Sunday at 4:40 p.m. CT (5:40 p.m. ET in South Bend) when the Irish travel to Chicago to take on No. 17/15 DePaul. That game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 as part of that network’s “February Frenzy” package.
— ND —