INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Southern Arkansas softball senior standout Sarah Higginbotham is among a record-setting 480 nominees from across all divisions of the NCAA for the prestigious 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year award as it was announced by the NCAA late last week.
 
Each year, the NCAA encourages schools to honor its top graduating female student-athletes by submitting them for consideration for the Woman of the Year award. Conferences assess each nominee's eligibility and select up to two conference nominees. All conference nominees are forwarded to the NCAA's Woman of the Year selection committee. From there, 30 honorees are chosen – ten from each division.
 
The committee then determines the top three nominees from each division and announces the nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select from the final nine to choose the 2015 Woman of the Year.
 
The 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year award winner will be announced, and the top 30 honorees celebrated, at the organization's annual award ceremony in Indianapolis on Oct. 18.
 
Higginbotham, a native of Bedford, Texas, graduated from SAU in May with a 3.91 cumulative G.P.A. in Biological Science with a minor in Mathematics. Named as SAU's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in late April, Higginbotham was most-recently one of 11 finalists for the Great American Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year award which was presented this past Monday at the league's Night of Champions celebration.
 
A three-year starter for the Lady Mulerider softball team, Higginbotham was named to the Capital One Academic All-America® Second-Team in 2014 while also appearing as a National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America Scholar-Athlete. Higginbotham has also been a two-time GAC All-Academic Team selection with inclusion for a third-straight year upcoming.
 
On the field, Higginbotham has played and started in 162 games as a catcher. One of the top hitters for SAU over the past three seasons, Higginbotham is ended her career in the top-10 in nine career offensive categories ranking third in RBIs (111), total bases (255) and homeruns (18). She also ranks fourth in career hits with 174, fifth in batting average (.326) and slugging percentage (.478) while also ranking eighth all-time in doubles (27) and on-base % (.372). Additionally, her 534 career at-bats ranks ninth all-time at SAU.
 
In terms of post-season awards, Higginbotham was named as an All-GAC Second-Team Catcher in 2013 and matched that honor this past spring. Additionally, Higginbotham was named to the NFCA All-Central Region Second-Team and GAC All-Tournament Team in 2014.