- Chris Quinn finished second in the college three point shootout. Quinn reached the finals before falling to Marquette's Steve Novak.
- Megan Duffy effectively finished fourth in the women's version of the shootout. Duffy reached the semifinal round of 4 before going cold and finishing with 10 points in the round.
- Duffy did fare better when it came to selecting this year's Frances Pomeroy Naismith award. Given by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association to the best collegiate player 5'8" or shorter, the award is named after the founder of basketball's daughter-in-law. Duffy, who stands at 5'7", commented that she wasn't going to wear heels to the ceremony for fear of being disqualified. A list of past winners, including ND's Niele Ivey, can be found courtesy Wikipedia. The WBNA draft starts Wednesday, so stay tuned to see where Megan will go.
- According to Wikipedia, Megan Duffy is tall. Also according to Wikipedia, I'm tall. Unless you're not only talking about non-Hispanic whites. In that case, I'm average. And there's nothing wrong with being average. (Warning-ish: Video, therefore sound. Safe for work if your officemates are used to strange sounds coming out of your cubicle.)
- Courtney LaVere also received an award from the WBCA. LaVere, who is interested in becoming a broadcaster, was awarded the Robin Roberts WBCA Broadcasting Scholarship Award. Courtney will be awarded $4,500 to pursue sports communications/journalism in graduate school.
- How not to end a basketball game, brought to you by the Stanford/LSU women's Elite 8 game. Down by one with less than 10 seconds left, Stanford star Candace Wiggins dribbled left of the key and kicked it to a teammate in the corner for a wide open three. The three would have given Stanford a 62-60 lead... if LSU star Seimone Augustus hadn't stepped up to take a charge from Wiggins. The announcers called the foul "obvious," but replays showed Augustus leaning forward to make sure she drew contact. After the inbound, Augustus was fouled and made both free throws. There were now 4.6 seconds left, and Stanford was down 62-59. Time enough to inbound to a guard, dribble once or twice, and hit a teammate upcourt for a tying three, right? Nope. The inbounder heaved a Hail Mary down the court and into traffic. An LSU Tiger caught the ball, dribbled up the court twice, and chucked the ball into the air in celebration - with 3.6 seconds left! The ball came down with a full second left on the clock. Fortunately for Ms. Premature Celebration, it landed in the vicinity of two fellow Tigers. A made desperation three from Stanford at that point may quite have been karmic retribution for Cal's "The Play" some 24 years ago.
- Blink and you miss college spring sports. After starting the season 2-5, ND's baseball team has grown their record to 17-8 (5-1 in the Big East). The softball team, still in the midst of a gruesome non-conference schedule, is 12-8.
- As I'm writing this, I just heard the I-X Indoor Amusement Park jingle for the first time this year. You don't understand how fired up I am right now.
Finally, some updates on Notre Dame women's basketball alumni, courtesy reader Tara (ND class of 2010).
- Ruth Riley has recovered from a finger injury and is back with the Colorado Chill. The Chill are members in the National Women's Basketball League, which plays during the WNBA"s offseason. Ruth's teammate on the Chill is WNBA All-StarBecky Hammon of the New York Liberty. Below is a completely gratuitous picture of Becky Hammon.
- Liberty College women's basketball's first family, Assistant Coach Kelley and Director of Basketball Operations Adam Deyo are expecting their first child in March.
- Meghan Leahy is engaged to a former ND basketball player from the men's side. At the current time, the future Mr. Meghan Leahy's name is unavailable.
- Imani Dunbar, who had been with a pro-am team in San Francisco, is still working in the Bay Area.
- Ericka Haney is currently an assistant coach for Chicago State's women's basketball team. (Chicago isn't a state, but they do have their own flag.)
