John Carroll University graduate Missy Spahar has been selected as the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year honoree from the Ohio Athletic Conference.
Spahar is one of a record 147 NCAA female student-athletes who have been named 2015 Woman of the Year honorees by conferences and independent schools.These honorees, selected from a record 480 school nominees, represent college athletes from 18 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those recognized, 57 honorees competed in Division I, 39 in Division II and 51 in Division III.
A four year letterwinner and starter for the JCU women's basketball team, Spahar was selected to the D3hoops.com All-America team as well as the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III Coaches' All-America Team in 2014. Spahar received second team All-America honors from D3hoops.com to go along with her first team accolades from WBCA, where she was one of three finalists for Division III Player of the Year.
Selection to the 2014 D3hoops.com All-Great Lakes Region first team, Spahar played a key role during JCU's historic 2013-14 campaign. The senior set the career scoring (1,901) and rebounding (912) records in helping John Carroll to its first-ever NCAA Division III tournament appearance and the program's first Ohio Athletic Conference regular season championship.
The Willowick, Ohio product finished that season with 680 points, the most-ever in a single year in the OAC and at JCU. She received the Helen Ludwig Award as the Most Valuable Player in the OAC -- a first for a John Carroll player.
Spahar completed her degree in Criminology in 2015.
The Woman of the Year selection committee will next select the top 10 honorees in each division. These top 30 honorees will be announced in early September. The selection committee will then choose and announce the nine finalists (three from each division) at the end of September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will cast votes among the nine finalists to determine the 2015 Woman of the Year.
The top 30 will be honored and the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named at the annual ceremony in Indianapolis on Oct. 18.
Now in its 25th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year Award recognizes graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.
