March 8, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame junior guard Megan Duffy (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne HS) is one of six players who have been named to the 2005 BIG EAST Conference All-Tournament Team, the league announced Tuesday night following the tourney’s championship game at the Hartford Civic Center. Duffy is the first Irish women’s basketball player to earn BIG EAST all-tournament honors since 2001, when both Ruth Riley and Kelley Siemon were tapped for the squad after Notre Dame fell to Connecticut, 78-76 in the title game.
In two games at this year’s BIG EAST Championship, Duffy averaged 18.0 points and 6.0 assists with a stellar .667 field goal percentage (12-for-18) and .667 three-point mark (6-for-9). The first-team all-BIG EAST selection came up with a near double-double in Notre Dame’s 70-59 quarterfinal victory over West Virginia, logging 15 points and nine assists. The next evening, Duffy tossed in a season-high 21 points and buried 4-for-6 three-point field goals in a 67-54 semifinal loss to No. 13 Connecticut. In the second half of that game, she singlehandedly tried to rally the Irish from a double-digit deficit, scoring 16 consecutive points down the stretch, including a pair of NBA-length three-point field goals.
Connecticut, which defeated ninth-ranked Rutgers, 67-51 in this year’s BIG EAST title game, placed three players on the all-tournament team, led by Most Outstanding Performer Barbara Turner. UConn’s Ann Strother and Jessica Moore, along with RU’s Cappie Pondexter and Matee Ajavon rounded out the 2005 BIG EAST All-Tournament Team.
No. 10/12 Notre Dame (26-5) presently is awaiting the announcement of the 64-team field for the 2005 NCAA Tournament, with the brackets scheduled to be released live on ESPN Sunday at 5 p.m. (ET). Should the Irish receive an at-large berth, it would mark their 10th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, where they have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen six times in the past eight years, including each of the past two seasons.
— ND —