March 30, 2006
INDIANAPOLIS – Notre Dame senior guards Chris Quinn (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) and Megan Duffy (Dayton, Ohio/Chaminade-Julienne) turned in solid performances at the 2006 College Three-Point Championships, which were held Thursday night at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler University campus in Indianapolis. Quinn became the first Irish cager (male or female) ever to reach the finals of the made-for-TV event, eventually falling to Marquette’s Steve Novak in an all-BIG EAST Conference final. Meanwhile, Duffy advanced to the semifinals before bowing out, but still matched the best-ever finish for a Notre Dame woman (Sheila McMillen in 1999).
The event will be replayed on ESPN2 Friday from midnight-2 a.m. (ET), ESPN Friday from 3-5 a.m. (ET) and ESPN Saturday from noon-2 p.m. (ET).
Quinn took the early clubhouse lead in the opening round with 17 points, a mark that held up until Novak came alive in the final pairing and took the top spot. As one of the top four scorers, Quinn moved into the semifinals, and he again tallied 17 points to earn a spot in the finals opposite Novak. In that matchup, Quinn scored 18 points, but the Marquette veteran came alive down the stretch to pull out the win.
On the women’s side, Duffy looked sharp in her first round circuit, scoring 17 points to join Michigan State’s Lindsay Bowen, Miami’s Tamara James and Stanford’s Krista Rappahahn in the next round. However, Duffy struggled a bit in the semifinals, coming up with 10 points and was eliminated along with James. Bowen ended up winning the women’s three-point event, and then ousted Novak in a “battle of the sexes” for the overall long distance title.
Quinn and Duffy were the fifth and sixth Notre Dame basketball players to compete in the College Three-Point Championships, joining McMillen, Martin Ingelsby (2001), David Graves (2002) and Alicia Ratay (2003). Thursday night’s three-point competition was the first of several postseason events for both Irish players. Quinn will take part in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) College All-Star Game vs. the Harlem Globetrotters Friday at 7 p.m. (ET) inside Conseco Fieldhouse.
Duffy will head to Boston for Saturday’s Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) College All-Star Challenge, which will be part of the WBCA Night of All-Stars starting at 4:30 p.m. (ET) at Matthews Arena on the Northeastern University campus. She and her senior teammate, Courtney LaVere (Ventura, Calif./Buena) also will be on hand at the WBCA Awards Luncheon Sunday afternoon at Boston’s Hynes Conference Center — Duffy will accept the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (top senior player 5-foot-8 or under), while LaVere will receive the Robin Roberts/WBCA Broadcasting Scholarship Award.
Beginning next Monday (April 3), Duffy will turn her attention to the next phase of her career, as she is one of 42 college seniors invited to participate in the WNBA Pre-Draft Camp at Emmanuel College in Boston. She also will attend the 2006 WNBA Draft, which will take place next Wednesday, April 5 at 1 p.m. (ET) from the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. ESPN2 will have exclusive live coverage of the first round of the WNBA Draft, while ESPNU, NBA TV and WNBA.com will jointly carry the final two rounds of the event.
— ND —