# Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award

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. 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. The award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, 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). Since the 2004 awards, the winner has been chosen by online voting through three to five nominees selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. Before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts. 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.
The inaugural winner of the Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award at the 2002 awards was University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies basketball player Sue Bird. 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. The 2003 winner of the award was another UConn player, Diana Taurasi. Taurasi won the accolade again the following year, 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. Basketball players dominate the winners list, with 14 awards, while softball competitors have won five times, and just one swimmer (the University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears' Missy Franklin at the 2015 ESPY Awards) has been recognized in the accolade's history. The most recent winner of the award is Iowa basketball player Caitlin Clark.
The accolade was combined with the Best Male College Athlete ESPY Award to create the Best College Athlete ESPY Award which was presented for the first time at the 2018 ESPY Awards. Beginning in 2021, the awards were again separated into men's and women's versions using the current naming scheme.

## Winners and nominees

ESPY Award for Best College Athlete, Women's Sports winners and nominees :
| Year | Image | Winner | University | Sport | Other nominees |
| 2002 | | Sue Bird | Connecticut Huskies | Basketball | Natalie Coughlin – California Golden Bears (Swimming) Jennie Finch – Arizona Wildcats (Softball) Stacey Nuveman – UCLA Bruins (Softball) Jackie Stiles – Missouri State Lady Bears (Basketball) |
| 2003 | | Diana Taurasi | Connecticut Huskies | Basketball | Alana Beard – Duke Blue Devils (Basketball) Natalie Coughlin – California Golden Bears (Swimming) Cat Osterman – Texas Longhorns (Softball) |
| 2004 | | Diana Taurasi (2) | Connecticut Huskies | Basketball | Alana Beard – Duke Blue Devils (Basketball) Tara Kirk – Stanford Cardinal (Swimming) Cat Reddick – North Carolina Tar Heels (Soccer) Jessica van der Linden – Florida State Seminoles (Softball) |
| 2005 | | Cat Osterman | Texas Longhorns | Softball | Seimone Augustus – LSU Lady Tigers (Basketball) Nicole Corriero – Harvard Crimson (Ice hockey) Kristen Maloney – UCLA Bruins (Gymnastics) Katie Thorlakson – Notre Dame (Soccer) |
| 2006 | | Cat Osterman (2) | Texas Longhorns | Softball | Seimone Augustus – LSU Lady Tigers (Basketball) Virginia Powell – USC Trojans (Track and field) Christine Sinclair – Portland Pilots (Soccer) Courtney Thompson – Washington Huskies (Volleyball) |
| 2007 | | Taryne Mowatt | Arizona Wildcats | Softball | Monica Abbott – Tennessee Lady Volunteers (Softball) Kerri Hanks – Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Soccer) Kara Lynn Joyce – Georgia Bulldogs (Swimming) |
| 2008 | | Candace Parker | Tennessee Lady Volunteers | Basketball | Rachel Dawson – North Carolina Tar Heels (Field hockey) Angela Tincher – Virginia Tech Hokies (Softball) |
| 2009 | | Maya Moore | Connecticut Huskies | Basketball | Kerri Hanks – Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Soccer) Courtney Kupets – Georgia Gymdogs (Gymnastics) Danielle Lawrie – Washington Huskies (Softball) Dana Vollmer – California Golden Bears (Swimming) |
| 2010 | | Maya Moore (2) | Connecticut Huskies | Basketball | Tina Charles – Connecticut Huskies (Basketball) Megan Hodge – Penn State Nittany Lions (Volleyball) Megan Langenfeld – UCLA Bruins (Softball) |
| 2011 | | Maya Moore (3) | Connecticut Huskies | Basketball | Blair Brown – Penn State Nittany Lions (Volleyball) Dallas Escobedo – Arizona State Sun Devils (Softball) Melissa Henderson – Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Soccer) Katinka Hosszú – USC Trojans (Swimming) |
| 2012 | | Brittney Griner | Baylor Lady Bears | Basketball | Alexandra Jupiter – USC Trojans (Volleyball) Caitlin Leverenz – California Golden Bears (Swimming) Teresa Noyola – Stanford Cardinal (Soccer) Jackie Traina – Alabama Crimson Tide (Softball) |
| 2013 | | Brittney Griner (2) | Baylor Lady Bears | Basketball | Kara Cannizzaro – North Carolina Tar Heels (Lacrosse) Crystal Dunn – North Carolina Tar Heels (Soccer) Keilani Ricketts – Oklahoma Sooners (Softball) |
| 2014 | | Breanna Stewart | UConn Huskies | Basketball | Morgan Brian – Virginia Cavaliers (Soccer) Taylor Cummings – Maryland Terrapins (Lacrosse) Micha Hancock – Penn State Nittany Lions (Volleyball) Hannah Rogers – Florida Gators (Softball) |
| 2015 | | Missy Franklin | California Golden Bears | Swimming | Taylor Cummings – Maryland Terrapins (Lacrosse) Lauren Haeger – Florida Gators (Softball) Micha Hancock – Penn State Nittany Lions (Volleyball) Breanna Stewart – Connecticut Huskies (Basketball) |
| 2016 | | Breanna Stewart (2) | UConn Huskies | Basketball | Samantha Bricio – USC Trojans (Volleyball) Taylor Cummings – Maryland Terrapins (Lacrosse) Raquel Rodríguez – Penn State Nittany Lions (Soccer) Sierra Romero – Michigan Wolverines (Softball) |
| 2017 | – | Kelly Barnhill | Florida Gators | Softball | Inky Ajanaku – Stanford Cardinal (Volleyball) Kadeisha Buchanan – West Virginia Mountaineers (Soccer) Kelsey Plum – Washington Huskies (Basketball) Zoe Stukenberg – Maryland Terrapins (Lacrosse) |
| 2018–2020 | - | Not Awarded | Not Awarded | Not Awarded | Not Awarded |
| 2021 | | Paige Bueckers | UConn Huskies | Basketball | Odicci Alexander – James Madison Dukes (Softball) Jaelin Howell – Florida State Seminoles (Soccer) Madison Lilley – Kentucky Wildcats (Volleyball) |
| 2022 | – | Jocelyn Alo | Oklahoma Sooners | Softball | Aliyah Boston – South Carolina (Basketball) Jaelin Howell – Florida State (Soccer) Charlotte North – Boston College (Lacrosse) |
| 2023 | | Caitlin Clark | Iowa Hawkeyes | Basketball | Jordy Bahl – Oklahoma Sooners (Softball) Izzy Scane – Northwestern (Lacrosse) Trinity Thomas – Florida Gators (Gymnastics) |
| 2024 | | Caitlin Clark (2) | Iowa Hawkeyes | Basketball | Sarah Franklin – Wisconsin Badgers (Volleyball) Izzy Scane – Northwestern (Lacrosse) Haleigh Bryant – LSU Tigers (Gymnastics) |

## Statistics

Multiple winners and nominees :
| Name | Wins | Nominations |
| Maya Moore | 3 | 3 |
| Cat Osterman | 2 | 3 |
| Breanna Stewart | 2 | 3 |
| Diana Taurasi | 2 | 2 |
| Caitlin Clark | 2 | 2 |
| Taylor Cummings | 0 | 3 |
| Seimone Augustus | 0 | 2 |
| Alana Beard | 0 | 2 |
| Natalie Coughlin | 0 | 2 |
| Kerri Hanks | 0 | 2 |
Winners by college team represented :
| Team | Wins | Nominations |
| UConn Huskies | 9 | 11 |
| Texas Longhorns | 2 | 3 |
| Iowa Hawkeyes | 2 | 2 |
| Baylor Lady Bears | 2 | 0 |
| California Golden Bears | 1 | 5 |
| Florida Gators | 1 | 4 |
| Arizona Wildcats | 1 | 2 |
| Oklahoma Sooners | 1 | 3 |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | 0 | 5 |
| Maryland Terrapins | 0 | 4 |
| North Carolina Tar Heels | 0 | 4 |
| USC Trojans | 0 | 4 |
| LSU Lady Tigers | 0 | 3 |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 0 | 3 |
| Stanford Cardinal | 0 | 3 |
| UCLA Bruins | 0 | 3 |
| Washington Huskies | 0 | 3 |
| Duke Blue Devils | 0 | 2 |
| Florida State Seminoles | 0 | 2 |
| Northwestern Wildcats | 0 | 2 |
Winners and nominees by sport :
| Sport | Winners | Nominations |
| Basketball | 14 | 23 |
| Softball | 5 | 21 |
| Swimming | 1 | 8 |
| Soccer | 0 | 13 |
| Volleyball | 0 | 10 |
| Lacrosse | 0 | 8 |
| Gymnastics | 0 | 4 |