Jessica Johnson and Stella Johnson Named MAAC Nominees for 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award
INDIANAPOLIS (Aug 11, 2020) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), in conjunction with the NCAA, announced today that Monmouth University’s Jessica Johnson and Rider University’s Stella Johnson have been named the MAAC nominees for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. The two student-athletes were chosen from nine MAAC nominees that
were named in July.
Jessica and Stella Johnson are two of 161 college athletes that have been named conference-level nominees for the award. They were selected form a program-record pool of 605 school nominees. The nominees represent student-athletes from 21 different sports spanning all three NCAA divisions. Of those nominated, 59 nominees competed in Division I, 39 in Division II and 63 in Division III.
“We are extremely proud to have Jessica Johnson and Stella Johnson represent the MAAC as NCAA Woman of the Year nominations,” said MAAC Deputy Commissioner Jessica Grasso. “These young ladies are the primary examples of what it means to be a student-athlete.”
“They have worked hard both athletically and academically, and have given back to their communities in a positive manner. The MAAC congratulates Jessica and Stella on their well-deserved nomination.”
Jessica Johnson helped guide the Hawks to four-straight MAAC Women’s Soccer Championships from 2016-19. She was a two-time captain and the 2018 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year. This past year, she was awarded the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship for her athletic and academic achievements.
Stella Johnson led the Rider Women’s Basketball Team to a share of its first-ever MAAC Regular Season Title in 2020. The two-time MAAC Player of the Year (2019, 2020) led the entire NCAA in scoring, averaging 24.8 points per game. The star Bronc was selected by the Phoenix Mercury in the third round of the 2020 WNBA Draft. She later signed with and currently plays for the WNBA’s Chicago Sky.
The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will now choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division — from the conference-level nominees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in September. From there, the selection committee will narrow the pool to three finalists from each division. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will select the 2020 Woman of the Year from the nine finalists.
The Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year will be named this fall.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) celebrates its 40
th year of competition during the 2020-21 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.