Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award

The ESPY Award for Best College Athlete, Women's Sports, known before 2021 as the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award, is an annual award honoring the achievements of a female individual from the world of collegiate sports. It was first presented as part of the ESPY Awards in 2002, following the subsumption of the Best Female College Basketball Player ESPY Award, which was presented annually between the 1993 and 2001 ceremonies, inclusive. The award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, is awarded to the sportswoman adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year of those contesting collegiate sport in the United States through the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since the 2004 awards, the winner has been chosen by online voting through three to five nominees selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts. Through the 2001 iteration of the ESPY Awards, ceremonies were conducted in February of each year to honor achievements over the previous calendar year; awards presented thereafter are conferred in July and reflect performance from the June previous.

The inaugural winner of the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award at the 2002 awards was University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies basketball player Sue Bird. During her collegiate career, Bird won two NCAA championships, and was awarded a further eight accolades for her achievements. She became the first of two basketball players to be nominated for, and hence to win, the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award. The 2003 winner of the award was another UConn player, Diana Taurasi. Taurasi won the accolade again the following year, and is one of three women, all UConn basketball players, to have received the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award more than once: the most any one woman has won is Maya Moore, who earned three consecutive awards between the 2009 and 2011 ceremonies. Basketball players dominate the winners list, with 14 awards, while softball competitors have won five times, and just one swimmer (the University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears' Missy Franklin at the 2015 ESPY Awards) has been recognized in the accolade's history. The most recent winner of the award is UCLA basketball player Lauren Betts.

The accolade was combined with the Best Male College Athlete ESPY Award to create the Best College Athlete ESPY Award which was presented for the first time at the 2018 ESPY Awards. Beginning in 2021, the awards were again separated into men's and women's versions using the current naming scheme.

Winners and nominees + ESPY Award for Best College Athlete, Women's Sports winners and nomineesYear Image Winner University Sport Other nominees 2002 Connecticut Huskies Basketball Natalie Coughlin – California Golden Bears (Swimming)Jennie Finch – Arizona Wildcats (Softball)Stacey Nuveman – UCLA Bruins (Softball)Jackie Stiles – Missouri State Lady Bears (Basketball) 2003 Connecticut Huskies Basketball Alana Beard – Duke Blue Devils (Basketball)Natalie Coughlin – California Golden Bears (Swimming)Cat Osterman – Texas Longhorns (Softball) 2004 (2) Connecticut Huskies Basketball Alana Beard – Duke Blue Devils (Basketball)Tara Kirk – Stanford Cardinal (Swimming)Cat Reddick – North Carolina Tar Heels (Soccer)Jessica van der Linden – Florida State Seminoles (Softball) 2005 Texas Longhorns Softball Seimone Augustus – LSU Lady Tigers (Basketball)Nicole Corriero – Harvard Crimson (Ice hockey)Kristen Maloney – UCLA Bruins (Gymnastics)Katie Thorlakson – Notre Dame (Soccer) 2006 (2) Texas Longhorns Softball Seimone Augustus – LSU Lady Tigers (Basketball)Virginia Powell – USC Trojans (Track and field)Christine Sinclair – Portland Pilots (Soccer)Courtney Thompson – Washington Huskies (Volleyball) 2007 Arizona Wildcats Softball Monica Abbott – Tennessee Lady Volunteers (Softball)Kerri Hanks – Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Soccer)Kara Lynn Joyce – Georgia Bulldogs (Swimming) 2008 Tennessee Lady Volunteers Basketball Rachel Dawson – North Carolina Tar Heels (Field hockey)Angela Tincher – Virginia Tech Hokies (Softball) 2009 Connecticut Huskies Basketball Kerri Hanks – Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Soccer)Courtney Kupets – Georgia Gymdogs (Gymnastics)Danielle Lawrie – Washington Huskies (Softball)Dana Vollmer – California Golden Bears (Swimming) 2010 (2) Connecticut Huskies Basketball Tina Charles – Connecticut Huskies (Basketball)Megan Hodge – Penn State Nittany Lions (Volleyball)Megan Langenfeld – UCLA Bruins (Softball) 2011 (3) Connecticut Huskies Basketball Blair Brown – Penn State Nittany Lions (Volleyball)Dallas Escobedo – Arizona State Sun Devils (Softball)Melissa Henderson – Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Soccer)Katinka Hosszú – USC Trojans (Swimming) 2012 Baylor Lady Bears Basketball Alexandra Jupiter – USC Trojans (Volleyball)Caitlin Leverenz – California Golden Bears (Swimming)Teresa Noyola – Stanford Cardinal (Soccer)Jackie Traina – Alabama Crimson Tide (Softball) 2013 (2) Baylor Lady Bears Basketball Kara Cannizzaro – North Carolina Tar Heels (Lacrosse)Crystal Dunn – North Carolina Tar Heels (Soccer)Keilani Ricketts – Oklahoma Sooners (Softball) 2014 UConn Huskies Basketball Morgan Brian – Virginia Cavaliers (Soccer)Taylor Cummings – Maryland Terrapins (Lacrosse)Micha Hancock – Penn State Nittany Lions (Volleyball)Hannah Rogers – Florida Gators (Softball) 2015 California Golden Bears Swimming Taylor Cummings – Maryland Terrapins (Lacrosse)Lauren Haeger – Florida Gators (Softball)Micha Hancock – Penn State Nittany Lions (Volleyball)Breanna Stewart – Connecticut Huskies (Basketball) 2016 (2) UConn Huskies Basketball Samantha Bricio – USC Trojans (Volleyball)Taylor Cummings – Maryland Terrapins (Lacrosse)Raquel Rodríguez – Penn State Nittany Lions (Soccer)Sierra Romero – Michigan Wolverines (Softball) 2017 – Florida Gators Softball Inky Ajanaku – Stanford Cardinal (Volleyball)Kadeisha Buchanan – West Virginia Mountaineers (Soccer)Kelsey Plum – Washington Huskies (Basketball)Zoe Stukenberg – Maryland Terrapins (Lacrosse) 2018–2020 -Not AwardedNot AwardedNot AwardedNot Awarded 2021 UConn Huskies Basketball Odicci Alexander – James Madison Dukes (Softball)Jaelin Howell – Florida State Seminoles (Soccer)Madison Lilley – Kentucky Wildcats (Volleyball) 2022 – Oklahoma Sooners Softball Aliyah Boston – South Carolina (Basketball)Jaelin Howell – Florida State (Soccer)Charlotte North – Boston College (Lacrosse) 2023 Iowa Hawkeyes Basketball Jordy Bahl – Oklahoma Sooners (Softball)Izzy Scane – Northwestern (Lacrosse)Trinity Thomas – Florida Gators (Gymnastics) 2024 (2) Iowa Hawkeyes Basketball Sarah Franklin – Wisconsin Badgers (Volleyball)Izzy Scane – Northwestern (Lacrosse)Haleigh Bryant – LSU Tigers (Gymnastics) 2025 – USC Trojans Basketball Gretchen Walsh – Virginia Cavaliers (Swimming)Kate Faasse – North Carolina Tar Heels (Soccer)Olivia Babcock – Pittsburgh Panthers (Volleyball) 2026 UCLA Bruins Basketball Madison Taylor – Northwestern Wildcats (Lacrosse)Faith Torrez – Oklahoma Sooners (Gymnastics)Olivia Babcock – Pittsburgh Panthers (Volleyball)

Statistics

+ Multiple winners and nominees Name Wins Nominations 3 3 2 3 2 3 2 2 2 2 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2

+ Winners by college team represented Team Wins Nominations UConn Huskies 9 11 Texas Longhorns 2 3 Iowa Hawkeyes 2 2 Baylor Lady Bears 2 0 California Golden Bears 1 5 USC Trojans 1 5 Florida Gators 1 4 Arizona Wildcats 1 2 Oklahoma Sooners 1 4 UCLA Bruins 1 4 North Carolina Tar Heels 0 5 Penn State Nittany Lions 0 5 Maryland Terrapins 0 4 LSU Lady Tigers 0 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 0 3 Stanford Cardinal 0 3 Washington Huskies 0 3 Duke Blue Devils 0 2 Florida State Seminoles 0 2 Northwestern Wildcats 0 3 Virginia Cavaliers 0 2 Pittsburgh Panthers 0 2

+ Winners and nominees by sport Sport Winners Nominations Basketball 16 25 Softball 5 21 Swimming 1 9 Soccer 0 14 Volleyball 0 12 Lacrosse 0 9 Gymnastics 0 5

Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award

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