EDISON, NJ (July 17, 2023) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) today announced the duo of Fairfield University’s Aina March and Iona University’s Kate Mager as MAAC nominees for the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. The pair were selected from a pool of 10 MAAC school nominees.

“The MAAC is honored to nominate Aina March and Katelyn Mager for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award,” said MAAC Deputy Commissioner Jessica Grasso. “These women exemplify what it means to be a student-athlete in our conference. They are focused individuals that go above and beyond to achieve success in the classroom, on the courts, and in their communities. The MAAC congratulates Aina and Katelyn on their deserving nomination.”
 
A native of Barcelona, Spain, March was a standout women’s tennis player for Fairfield, guiding the Stags to the 2019 MAAC Championship crown while also qualifying for the MAAC postseason all four of her seasons including three championship title match appearances. She concluded her stellar career as a three-time All-MAAC First Team selection, earning a spot at No. 5 Singles twice in 2022 and 2023 (unanimous), while being voted at No. 1 Doubles in 2019. March set a program record with 101 career singles matches, winning 45 contests in singles and 20 in doubles. She graduated in 2022 Summa Cum Laude, earning her undergraduate degree in electrical engineering with a minor in mathematics, compiling a cumulative grade point average of 3.89. March was a five-time MAAC All-Academic Team honoree and she was a selection to the 2022-23 College Sports Communicators Tennis Academic All-District Team. On campus, she was named as the 2023 Fairfield University Scholar-Athlete of the Year, she was a member of the Fairfield Honors Program, she made eight Dean’s List, she earned the Class of 2022 Award for Outstanding Achievement in Electrical Engineering, was a 2022 Inductee into Fairfield University Chapter of the National Mathematics Honors Society Pi Mu Epsilon, and was a 2021 Inductee into Tau Beta Phi - Fairfield University Engineering Honor Society.
 
In her lone season on the Iona women’s basketball team, Mager made an immediate impact for the Gaels, leading the team to the MAAC Championship title, a Regular Season championship, and an NCAA March Madness berth. A graduate student hailing from New York, NY, she set a program single-season record for three-point percentage (47.7%) and made the second most triples in a single season at Iona (104). Mager appeared and started in all 33 games for the Gaels in 2022-23, averaging 11.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.0 assists, while playing 33.5 minutes per game. She led the MAAC and ranked top-10 in NCAA in three-point field goal percentage (third), three-pointers per game (sixth) and total three-pointers made (seventh). Mager’s efforts on the court led to spots on the All-MAAC Second Team, MAAC All-Championship Team and All-MET Third Team. Moreover, she solidified her position as one of the top outside threats in the nation by claiming the 2023 State Farm College Three-Point Championship and winning the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Battle of the Champions title. Mager holds a graduate degree from Iona in special education and previously earned her undergraduate degree from Merrimack College in education, graduating with a perfect 4.00 grade point average. She was named a 2023 Iona Merit Scholar, was selected to the 2023 MAAC All-Academic Team, and was the 2022 Merrimack College Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Northeast Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year.
 
A record-breaking 619 female student-athletes were nominated by NCAA member schools for consideration of the 2023 Woman of the Year award. Joining March and Mager as MAAC member school nominees were Fairfield’s Nya Jones, Manhattan College’s Andrea Liotta and Mary Segmuller, Marist College’s Calista Phippen, Niagara University’s Zoe Gavin, Saint Peter’s University’s Shelby Piccinic, and Siena College’s Elisabeth Balicanta and Olivia Lomascolo.
 
The nominees represent all three NCAA divisions, including 264 nominees from Division I, 128 from Division II and 227 from Division III. The average GPA of the nominee pool was 3.76. Member schools are encouraged to honor their top graduating female college athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year Award. Schools can recognize two nominees if at least one is a woman of color or international student-athlete.
 
The Woman of the Year Selection Committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division — from the conference-level nominees. The Top 30 honorees will be announced in October. The selection committee will then determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30, and the nine finalists will be announced in November. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will choose the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year. The honorees will be celebrated at the Woman of the Year Award Ceremony at the NCAA Convention in Phoenix in January.
 
All school and conference nominees receive an NCAA certificate and will be recognized on ncaa.org.
 
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) is in its 43rd year of competition during the 2023-24 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan College, Marist College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.
 
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