The Big 12 Conference has nominated Kaylee Dao (Oklahoma soccer) and Alison Gibson (Texas swimming & diving) for 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes graduating female student-athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership. A total of 161 female student-athletes have been named candidates by conferences and independent schools.
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. Former Texas Tech track and field student-athlete Ifeatu Okafor earned the prestigious honor in 2013.
Dao, a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, started all 20 games for the Sooners in 2019. She earned multiple national accolades including Senior CLASS Award First Team All-American and CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American. Additionally, she was tabbed the Big 12 Fall Scholar-Athlete of the Year and an Academic All-Big 12 First Team performer. Dao finished as the third all-time goal scorer in program history with 29 career goals and was second on OU’s career list with 11 game-winning goals. She led Oklahoma with 13 goals, one assist and 27 points to earn unanimous All-Big 12 First Team recognition.
Gibson was named the unanimous Big 12 Diver of the Year in 2020. The Austin, Texas, native was previously named Co-Big 12 Diver of the Meet after winning 1m (323.35) and taking second in 3m (381.60). She won nine events this past season, competing only on 1m and 3m. At the USA Winter Championships, took second on the 3m with a 954.90, and took second on the 3m synchronized springboard (594.27), both of which qualified her for Team USA to at the World Cup. In her final meet of the year, Gibson took first on the 3m (687.15) at the Zone D Championships and took second on 1m (603.85), the highest finish of a Big 12 diver. Gibson is a three-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team honoree and CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honoree. She was also granted an NCAA Winter Sports Postgraduate Scholarship and the Big 12 Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship.