CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Alicia Payne, a 2016 graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, was nominated for the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year, the NCAA announced this week. She is one of two Southern Conference nominees and one of 54 from Division I.
 
NCAA conferences and independent schools have nominated 142 female student-athletes for the 2016 Woman of the Year Award.
 
These women, selected from a record 517 school nominees, represent college athletes from 17 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those recognized, 54 nominees competed in Division I, 37 in Division II and 51 in Division III.  Two of the honorees also will represent the United States at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
 
Payne is the recipient of the inaugural EnVeritas Group Graduate Scholarship. She is a two-time SoCon Defensive Player of the Year and the 2016 tournament Most Outstanding Player. She helped the Mocs to their fourth SoCon tournament title and NCAA appearance in as many years.
 
She started 59 consecutive games over the last two years and played in 130, second most by any UTC player. She was ranked nationally by the NCAA in five categories including assists and minutes played. Payne is ninth all-time at UTC with 347 career assists. 

The two-year starting point guard owns a 3.89 GPA in social work and intends to pursue a Master's Degree in that field while serving as a graduate assistant coach for the Mocs . A four-year member of the Dean's List, Payne has earned Academic All-SoCon distinction and earned the Commissioner's Medal for having a GPA over 3.5 in multiple years.
 
Payne has logged hundreds of hours of community service throughout her collegiate career.  She amassed more than 300 as an organizer of Fellowship of Christian Athletes camps and 400 during an unpaid internship with the Chattanooga Department of Youth & Family Development.  There she worked with families with financial needs.
 
In early September, the Woman of the Year selection committee will name the Top 30 honorees, representing the top 10 women in each division. The selection committee will then choose and announce the nine finalists, with three from each division, at the end of September. Then, from the pool of nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will determine the 2016 Woman of the Year.
 
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named at the annual banquet Oct. 16 in Indianapolis.
 
The NCAA Woman of the Year program has recognized graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991.