INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Emily Clemens was selected as Western Illinois’ 2018 Female Student-Athlete of the Year and has a chance to earn the accolade as the best in the nation with her recent nomination as the NCAA Woman of the Year.
Currently in its 28th year of existence, the NCAA Woman of the Year program celebrates the accomplishments of female college athletes across all three NCAA divisions. In 2018, more than 200,000 women are playing college sports, and the NCAA received a program record of 581 nominations for the prestigious award.
No stranger to national attention, Clemens suited up for the Leathernecks’ women’s basketball team where she crowned her senior season as a Senior CLASS Award First Team All-American. The marketing and sport management major graduated this past May a Summit League champion, all-league honoree, and the Leathernecks’ all-time leading scorer.
During her senior slate, she broke Summit League records in career assists and free throws made, while also becoming Western’s first to surpass 1,000 points, 500 assists, and 200 steals. Clemens is a two-time first team all-league and academic all-league selection and concluded her career with 1,699 points.
The NCAA Woman of the Year honors graduating female collegiate athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service, and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
In the next step of the selection process, conferences will select up to two conference nominees from the pool of school nominees. The Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will then choose the top 30 honorees, 10 from each division, before narrowing the pool down to nine finalists.
The top 10 honorees from Divisions I, II and III, including the nine overall finalists, will be honored, and the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year winner announced, at a dinner Oct. 28 in Indianapolis.
