University of Connecticut Athletics
Collier, Rich Nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year
6/26/2019 2:40:00 PM | Field Hockey, Women's Basketball
STORRS, Conn. – UConn's Napheesa Collier (women's basketball) and Ashley Rich (field hockey) have been nominated for the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year award. A record 585 female college athletes have been nominated by NCAA member schools.
Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
Collier earned WBCA All-American honors while helping lead the Huskies to an NCAA Final Four appearance and two American Athletic Conference championships. She was named the 2019 Katrina McClain Award winner and the conference's Player of the Year. Collier helped UConn to a 35-3 overall record.
Rich was named an NFHCA Scholar of Distinction and was selected as a valedictorian for the UConn School of Nursing. She helped the Huskies to two BIG EAST championships in 2018 and an NCAA quarterfinals appearance. UConn finished the season with a 19-4 record.
Both Collier and Rich won NCAA Championships in their time in Storrs.
The NCAA encourages member schools to honor their top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award.
The nominees competed in 23 different sports across all three NCAA divisions, including 262 nominees from Division I, 131 from Division II and 192 from Division III. Multisport student-athletes account for 144 of the nominees.
Next, conferences will select up to two nominees each from the pool of school nominees. Then, the Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division.
The selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30 and announce the nine finalists in September. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then will choose the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named at the annual award ceremony Oct. 20 in Indianapolis.
