Athletes

Ruth Riley is a member of the Detroit Shock team that won the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) championship in 2006. During the off-season, Riley helped her team, the Colorado Chill, win the National Women's Basketball League (NWBL)'s championship and was named the MVP of the post-season. In 2005, she was selected for the Eastern Conference team in the WNBA All-Star Game. Riley made her Olympic Games debut at the 2004 Games in Athens, helping team USA. win a gold medal. That same year, Riley was ranked fifth in the WNBA for blocks per game. She was the 2003 MVP of the WNBA Championship and led her team to its first title. During the playoffs, Riley averaged 12.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists. She is currently ranked second in the WNBA in field goal percentage (0.498) and fifth in blocks (58.). Riley was the first overall pick in the Dispersal Draft by the Detroit Shock from the Miami Sol in 2003. In college, Riley won the Naismith Award and was named the Associated Press Player of the Year while leading Notre Dame to the 2001 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship her senior season. She earned NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player honors and was named the 2000-2001 Verizon Academic All-America Team Member of the Year, signifying her as the top student-athlete in all sports -male or female - in the University Division (Division I). A two-time AP First Team All-America selection (1999-2000 and 2000-2001), Riley ranked first in school history with 370 career blocks and a career field goal percentage of .632. Named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year, Big East Player of the Year and Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Riley led the nation in field goal percentage (.628) and finished her career with 2,072 career points and 1,007 rebounds. As a junior in 1999-2000 Riley led the team in scoring (16.2 points per game) and rebounding (7.3 per game) and was named to the NCAA Mideast Regional All-Tournament Team. In between her junior and sophomore year, Riley was a member of the 1999 Women's World University Games team and helped the squad capture the silver medal. As a sophomore in 1998-1999, Riley was the only unanimous selection to the All-Big East First Team. She led the team with 16.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game and was ranked first in the nation in field goal percentage (.683). As a freshman in 1997-1998, she earned Big East All-Rookie Team honors. In 2006, Riley received the WNBA's Community Assist Award for August, in honor of her commitment to the community. In 2005, she became the vice president of the WNBA Player's Union. (10/06)