INDIANAPOLIS – Former University of South Alabama soccer student-athlete Briana Morris was among the 161 individuals who were named conference-level nominees for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award it was announced on Tuesday.
Morris was selected along with Alexis Garrett, a member of Troy's track and field team, to represent the Sun Belt Conference.
The Hoover, Ala., resident wrapped up her Jaguar career last fall by recording 16 goals and 34 points — both league-leading totals — to be named the Sun Belt Player and Offensive Player of the Year as well as first-team all-Southeast Region by the United Soccer Coaches. She was also chosen first-team all-conference, and voted the Most Outstanding Performer while being named to the all-tournament team at the Sun Belt Championship after helping South to the title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Morris, who was selected the 2019-20 South Alabama Female Student-Athlete of the Year in April, tied the third-highest season goal total in program history while also ranking among the top 10 in total points.
In her four seasons at USA, she helped the Jaguars to a combined 53-25-6 overall mark — including a 29-9-2 record in league action — while winning three Sun Belt regular season championships, three league tournament titles and making three appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
In the classroom, Morris made the President's List on three occasions and was on the Dean's Honor List twice. She was named to the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner's List after each of her first two years at South and was a member of the league's Academic Honor Roll following her junior season before going on to earn her bachelor's degree in accounting from the university in May, graduating with a 3.65 cumulative grade-point average.
Morris was a member of USA's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee all four years, serving as vice president for two years and President the last three semesters she was in school. She was also the only student-athlete selected to participate in the Sun Belt Conference Diversity and Inclusion Summit — a panel that discussed what member institutions are doing to address diversity as well as best practices within an athletic department — in May 2019, while participating in numerous community service events including Special Olympics, Operation Christmas Child, USA Women's and Children's Hospital Diaper Drive and USA Campus Recreation Holiday Havoc. Morris also took part in the Student Government Association's Lavender Monologues and OktSober Fest, and has assisted at the Go 4 the Goal and Christ United Methodist Soccer clinics too.
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. 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, with those honorees expected to 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.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Upper 90 Club, the soccer specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All gifts to the Upper 90 Club go directly to support the South Alabama soccer program. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/upper90
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