Women's Basketball | 7/12/2018 4:43:00 PM

MOORHEAD, Minn. — Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball standout Drew Sannes is one of 581 nominees for the NCAA Woman of the Year, the NCAA announced on Thursday.

The Hawley, Minn., native earned All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference First Team honors for a second straight year, leading the Dragons in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. She leaves MSUM as the all-time leader in blocks and in the top 10 in both scoring and rebounding.

Sannes also earned CoSIDA Academic All-American First Team honors, becoming the first Dragon women's player to receive that prestigious award.

Established in 1991 and now in its 28th year, the NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers. The school nominees represent all three NCAA divisions.

Next, conferences will select up to two conference nominees each 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. From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three honorees from each division and announces the nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then chooses the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year from those nine.

The top 30 honorees will be recognized and the 2018 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced at the annual award ceremony Oct. 28 in Indianapolis.