INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (07.22.15) – Madi Hess, The University of Texas at Dallas' award-winning senior women's basketball player, is one of a record 147 NCAA female student-athletes who have been named 2015 Woman of the Year honorees by their conference.
 
Hess, who led the Comets to an American Southwest Conference championship and NCAA "Sweet 16" appearance in her final season, was chosen as the ASC's nominee.

These honorees, selected from the record 480 school nominees nationwide, represent college athletes from 18 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those recognized, 57 honorees competed in Division I, 39 competed in Division II and 51 competed in Division III.

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 top nine finalists (three from each division) at the end of September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will vote from amongst those nine finalists to determine the 2015 Woman of the Year.

The top 30 honorees will be honored and the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named at the annual ceremony in Indianapolis on Oct. 18.

Captain for the 2014-15 UT Dallas basketball team, Hess led the Comets to the 2015 American Southwest Conference championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship. Named Most Valuable Player of the 2015 conference tournament and an All-ASC First Team pick, Hess directed UT Dallas to first and second-round national tournament wins and a trip to the Division III Sectionals. Hess was named an All-American by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and All-South Region by d3hoops.com. She led the ASC in three-point field goal percentage (.459) and assists per game (5.1) during the 2014-15 season, ranking among the top 25 in each Division III statistical category. The point guard set three UT Dallas season records during 2014-15 – assists, assists par game and three-point field goal percentage.
 
A May 2015 graduate, Hess earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in emerging media and communications and was recipient of the ASC Scholar-Athlete Medal of Honor recognizing her as the top UT Dallas graduating female student-athlete. Hess was selected as the ASC Women's Basketball Distinguished Scholar for 2014-15, and claimed both ASC Academic All-Conference and CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-District recognition. Hess completed internships with CBS Radio and Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine during her collegiate career.
 
When not on the basketball court or in the classroom, Hess served on the UT Dallas Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for three years and was involved with several community service organizations and events, including Special Olympics Dallas, Minnie's Food Pantry, Cedar Ridge Assisted Living and Dallas Habitat for Humanity.
 
"I am thankful for having the opportunity to be a student-athlete because it truly has taught me how to be successful in different areas of my life and helped build me to be the person I am today," Hess said. "I will always be able to look back on the amazing experiences I had during my collegiate years."
 
Hess is the first UT Dallas student-athlete selected as the ASC nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year and the second basketball player selected to represent the Conference on the national award ballot.
 
A CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-District First Team selection, Hess collected Academic All-ASC honors for the third time in her collegiate career this season. She was honored with the ASC Scholar-Athlete Medal of Honor this year. Hess is the third women's basketball player to earn the award, joining former Comets Chelsea Edward (2008-09) and Lyndsey Smith (2011-12).

Now in its 25^th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership.