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.[2] 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.[3] The award trophy, designed by sculptor
Lawrence Nowlan,[4] 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).[2] Since the 2004 awards, the winner has been chosen by online voting through three to five nominees selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee.[5][6] Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts.[7] 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.[a][3]
The inaugural winner of the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award at the 2002 awards was
University of Connecticut (UConn)
Huskiesbasketball player
Sue Bird.[8] 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.[9] The 2003 winner of the award was another UConn player,
Diana Taurasi.[10] Taurasi won the accolade again the following year,[10] 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.[11][12][13] Basketball players dominate the winners list, with 12 awards, while
softball competitors have won five times, and just one
swimmer (the
University of California, BerkeleyGolden Bears'
Missy Franklin at the
2015 awards) has been recognized in the accolade's history. The most recent winner of the award, and second under its current name, is Oklahoma softball player
Jocelyn Alo.[14]
^Because of the
rescheduling of the ESPY Awards ceremony, the award presented in 2002 was given in consideration of performance between February 2001 and June 2002.[3]
^
abcdefgThe University of Connecticut did not adopt "UConn" as its sole athletic brand name until the 2013–14 school year.