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Duffy nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year

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VERMILLION, S.D. (GoYotes.com) —Women’s basketball player Ciara Duffy Eastmo has been nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year by The University of South Dakota.

The NCAA Woman of the Year award was established in 1991 to recognize graduating female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers. A record 605 female college athletes were nominated for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year.

The Summit League and other conference offices across the country will select up to two nominees from their pool of member school nominees. The Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose from that group the Top 30 honorees – 10 from each division of the NCAA. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will announce the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year this fall.

Duffy’s postseason recognition included the Mid-Major Player of the Year honor from both espnW and Her Hoops Stats, the Summit League Player of the Year, Associated Press All-America honorable mention and the University of South Dakota’s Catie Tobin Female Athlete of the Year. She’s a three-time all-Summit League first team guard and twice named to the Summit’s all-tournament team.

In the classroom, Duffy graduated summa cum laude in 2019 from the University of South Dakota with a double-major in political science and history. This past season, she worked towards her master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies while carrying her 4.00 GPA into graduate work.

Duffy is a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, one of five women’s basketball players to make the NCAA Division I first team in both 2019 and 2020. She’s also a three-time Academic All-Summit League honoree. Duffy was inducted to the Phi Alpha Theta, USD’s history honor society in 2019.

As a member of the Coyotes, Duffy led the team to two undefeated Summit League regular season titles, a Summit League Tournament title in 2020, a pair of NCAA Tournament berths and pair of Women’s National Invitation Tournament appearances. She is the only player in USD history with more than 1,700 points, 600 rebounds and 400 assists. Her 1,793 career points ranks third on South Dakota’s all-time charts.