Aug. 8, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame rising senior point guard Megan Duffy (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne HS) will make her debut on the international stage Wednesday when she and her U.S. teammates take on the Czech Republic in pool play at the 2005 World University Games in Izmir, Turkey. Wednesday’s game will tip off at 4:45 a.m. South Bend time (12:45 p.m. in Turkey) and will be the opening contest for Team USA, which has been placed in Pool B for the 21-team basketball competition (the remaining U.S. schedule for the World University Games follows this release).
Duffy was named to the USA World University Games Team on Aug. 1, navigating through the first stage of trials back in May that featured 49 players and a second cut in late July from 16 players to the final 12-member roster. Duffy is the fourth Notre Dame women’s basketball player to be named to a USA Basketball team, and the first since Ruth Riley was a member of the 2004 U.S. Senior National Team that won a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The USA World University Games Team will be piloted by Harvard head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, with assistance from LSU mentor Pokey Chatman and Boston College skipper Cathy Inglese.
Duffy will be the third Notre Dame player since 1997 to represent the Irish on the USA World University Games Team. In 1997, Beth Morgan averaged 4.6 ppg. in helping the Americans to a perfect 6-0 record and the gold medal. Two years later, Riley earned a silver medal with Team USA, registering 10.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game with a .622 field goal percentage as the U.S. posted a 4-2 mark. Including all international women’s basketball competition, Notre Dame players have collected seven medals — two gold, three silver and two bronze.
Duffy is one of two BIG EAST Conference representatives on the 2005 USA World University Games Team, joining Rutgers guard Cappie Pondexter on the roster. In addition, Duffy has been reunited with one of her teammates at Chaminade-Julienne High School, as Ohio State guard Brandie Hoskins also was tapped to wear the red, white and blue for Team USA.
Besides Duffy, Pondexter and Hoskins, the remainder of the 2005 U.S. World University Games Team includes: Seimone Augustus (LSU), Monique Currie (Duke), Jessica Davenport (Ohio State), Candice Dupree (Temple), Sylvia Fowles (LSU), Erin Grant (Texas Tech), Liz Shimek (Michigan State), Brooke Smith (Stanford) and Lisa Willis (UCLA).
The World University Games are a multi-sport competition held every two years and open to competitors ages 17 to 28 who are or have been a student at a university within the year prior to competition. The USA women have had tremendous success in the World University Games, earning 12 medals in 13 previous appearances (five golds, six silvers, one bronze), and compiling an overall 75-15 (.833) record.
Duffy, an Associated Press honorable mention All-America and Kodak/WBCA All-Region 1 choice last season and a top candidate for the 2006 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (top senior player in the nation under 5-foot-8), will be arguably the top returning point guard in the BIG EAST next season after becoming only the second Irish floor general ever to receive All-America status. Also a first-team all-BIG EAST choice in 2004-05, Duffy ranked second on the team in scoring (12.3 ppg.) and led the conference in both steals (2.73 spg.) and free throw percentage (.895), placing fourth in the country with a school-record mark in the latter category. In addition, she was second in the BIG EAST in assists (5.39 apg.), trailing only West Virginia’s Yolanda Paige (a 2005 second-round WNBA draft pick by the Indiana Fever), and seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.73), and earned a spot on the Preseason WNIT and BIG EAST Championship all-tournament teams. Her 90 steals were the fifth-most in school history (second among Irish juniors) and her 1,222 minutes played were second in school annals, just five minutes short of Morgan’s record of 1,227 in 1996-97. Duffy did set a new school standard by averaging 37.0 minutes per game, smashing Mary Gavin’s old mark of 35.1 in 1986-87.
The lone returning captain on the Notre Dame roster for 2005-06, Duffy was at her best during the ’05 postseason, averaging 19.5 points, 4.8 assists and 2.5 steals per game with a .579 field goal percentage and .611 three-point percentage in four games. She helped lead Notre Dame to a 27-6 record in 2004-05, tying its third-highest win total ever, as well as the 12th NCAA Tournament appearance in school history (10th in a row) and the program’s 12th consecutive 20-win season. The Irish advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Arizona State, 70-61. Still, Notre Dame was ranked 11th in the final Associated Press poll of the season and 15th in the year-end ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.
— ND —
2005 Team USA World University Games Team Schedule (Izmir, Turkey)
Aug. 10 Czech Republic 12:45 p.m. (Pool B play)
Aug. 11 South Africa 10:30 a.m. (Pool B play)
Aug. 12 China 12:45 p.m. (Pool B play)
Aug. 15 Poland 12:45 p.m. (Pool B play)
Aug. 16 Quarterfinals
Aug. 17 Semifinals
Aug. 19 Finals
All times local and subject to change (NOTE: Turkey is eight hours ahead of South Bend’s current EST/CDT time zone)