 "Photo: Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor")
 "Photo: Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor")
The atmosphere was electric.
More than 3,600 fans were in attendance.
Ten players were on the court.
And two teams were getting ready to face off in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
But one player couldn’t be out there with her team against DePaul.
Allison Duffy.
She had been suspended from the San Diego State women’s basketball team for an undisclosed violation of university policies and had only played in one game all season.
“Not playing last year was hard at times because I sometimes didn’t feel as close with everyone anymore in terms of court play,” the junior forward said. “Because during games you create a bond and chemistry together and I wasn’t a part of it, so it was hard.”
As a redshirt freshman in 2007, Duffy made an immediate impact for SDSU. In just her second game as an Aztec, she scored 13 points and posted a game-high 10 rebounds to notch her first double-double in a win against St. Mary’s. But that was only the beginning of her success. She recorded another double-double a week later against Jackson State to lead SDSU to a victory.
In the Mountain West Conference opener against TCU, Duffy led the Aztecs with 14 points in her first MWC game.
She continued to contribute throughout conference play and had her biggest game in a win against Colorado State with a career-high 22 points. But her performance in her first-career MWC Tournament game had a much greater impact. With SDSU entering the tournament with a sub-.500 record in MWC play, the No. 6-seeded Aztecs would face No. 3-seeded Wyoming. Duffy’s performance played a big role in SDSU pulling off a 66-54 win. She recorded yet another double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and added three assists, three steals and went 6-for-6 from the line.
The Aztecs would eventually fall in the MWC Championship against New Mexico, but Duffy didn’t disappoint in its run to the finals. In the semifinals against TCU, she scored 10 points and had four rebounds. And against the Lobos, she led SDSU with 15 points and added three assists and two blocks.
If her success as a redshirt freshman was any indication of her future contributions, last season was supposed to be huge. But the events of Sept. 21 of last year ruined any chance of that.
According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Duffy was arrested by SDSU police around 1 a.m. near campus on a charge of public intoxication. The San Diego Union-Tribune then reported on Nov. 15 of last year that Duffy was scheduled to appear in superior court on a misdemeanor charge of obstructing a police officer. Two days prior, head coach Beth Burns had announced that Duffy was suspended indefinitely for an unspecified violation of team rules. Burns then released a statement on Jan. 28 of this year that said Duffy would not compete with the Aztecs for the rest of the season. Almost four months later, The UT reported that Duffy had plead guilty to public intoxication, but the charge of obstructing a police officer had been dropped.
“I learned that I need to get my priorities straight,” Duffy said. “And that my actions not only punish me, but my team and family as well.”
But this wasn’t all she took away from the experience.
It also helped her become a better teammate.
“I knew I couldn’t be selfish and had to just suck it up,” Duffy said. “And do my role and ride out my punishment and just help my team as much as possible to get them to the next level, which they definitely did.”
SDSU had a very successful campaign last season, but the team wasn’t the same without Duffy. And it showed in the second round of the NCAA tournament when the Aztecs played Stanford. All five Cardinal starters were 6 feet or taller. One of them, forward Jayne Appel, was 6 feet 4 inches. SDSU, meanwhile, had just two starters taller than 5 feet 10 inches.
Duffy, who stands at 6 feet 2 inches tall, had to watch the 77-49 loss to Stanford from the sidelines.
“We felt from a year ago that Stanford taught us we had to be bigger and stronger,” Burns said. “Part of that is helped by personnel, we have Allison Duffy and (junior forward) Jessika Bradley and a year ago we didn’t have them.”
Not only do the Aztecs have Duffy back, but she is also bringing an added dimension this season.
Burns said Duffy played a lot at small forward in practice last year, rather than at her natural position of power forward to help her improve on her face up and ball handling skills. This will give SDSU the luxury of starting Duffy, Bradley and junior center Paris Johnson in the same lineup.
“I feel that we have a lot of great players on the team this year that all bring something to the table,” Duffy said. “So when we all play together, it’s going to be a fun and successful season.”
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