LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Recent Rider University graduate Stella Johnson of the women's basketball team has been selected as one of two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's nominees for 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year, the organization today announced. From a program-record pool of 605 school nominees, 161 college athletes have been named conference-level nominees for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. 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.
 
Rider's all-time leading scorer with 2,167 career points, Johnson became the Broncs' first-ever All-American in women's basketball this season, being recognized as an Honorable Mention honoree by three different outlets – the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), the Associated Press (AP) and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Johnson became Rider's first-ever Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Player of the Year in women's basketball. The Broncs' star guard also became the first Rider player to be drafted into the WNBA, as she was selected 29^th overall by the Phoenix Mercury and was later signed by the Chicago Sky. Johnson earned Rider Female Athlete of the Year for the second-straight year in 2019-20.

Johnson was also picked a Senior CLASS Award Second-Team All-American. She earned MAAC Player of the Year for the second-straight season, becoming the sixth player all-time to achieve the feat in back-to-back years. She was a finalist for both the Nancy Lieberman Award and Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year.

Johnson finished the year as the leading scorer in NCAA Division I at 24.8 points per game, more than a point ahead of the next-closest player. She was also the only active Division I player with 2,000 career points, 700 career rebounds, 400 career assists and 300 career steals. In her final game of the season, Johnson set a new league record for a single game, scoring 37 points in the Broncs' MAAC Quarterfinal win over Niagara. All nine of her double-doubles came against conference opponents, including her Feb. 29 triple-double against Canisius. Besides scoring, she also led the MAAC in steals per game (2.9) and minutes per game (37.1).

The NCAA Woman of the Year program is rooted in Title IX and has recognized graduating female college athletes for excellence in academics, athletics, community service and leadership since its inception in 1991. Conferences can recognize two nominees if at least one is a woman of color or international student-athlete. All nominees who compete in a sport not sponsored by their school's primary conference, as well as associate conference nominees and independent nominees, were placed in a separate pool to be considered by a selection committee. Four nominees from the pool were selected to move forward in the process with the conference nominees.

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. NCAA member schools have nominated a record 605 female college athletes for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.