Chiney Ogwumike, the leading scorer and rebounder on the Connecticut Sun, has been named the Pac-12 Conference's Woman of the Year making her eligible for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Here is the release

Stanford University’s Chiney Ogwumike has been selected the Pac-12 Conference Woman of the Year for the 2013-14 academic year, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott announced today. Ogwumike becomes the Conference’s candidate for the NCAA Woman of the Year, presented annually to graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership.

The Pac-12 is also submitting Alyssa Hasslen, a track and field standout from the University of Arizona, for a second nomination for NCAA Woman of the Year.

Ogwumike was the third player in Pdac-12 history and second in Stanford history to be selected No. 1 in the WNBA Draft in the spring. Her selection as the top overall draft pick, along with her sister Nnemkadi Ogwumike’s No. 1 draft pick, made the pair only the second set of siblings in a major American professional draft to be selected the top picks, joining the ranks of Eli and Payton Manning.

A consensus national player of the year finalist, Chiney Ogwumike was the John R. Wooden Award winner becoming the first Stanford and Pac-12 player to win the honor. She was a three-time Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-American and twice was a consensus All-American. A two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year and three-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, she led the Cardinal to four-consecutive Pac-12 regular-season titles and three Conference tournament crowns. The only player in the country to rank in the top-10 in the nation in points (26.1), rebounds (12.1), shooting percentage (60.1) and double-doubles (27), she is the Conference’s all-time scoring (2,737) and rebounding (1,567) leader, while also establishing the league’s single-season scoring record (967 points) in 2013-14. Ogwumike led Stanford to a third NCAA Women’s Final Four appearance in her four years on the Farm. The 2011 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and a four-time all-Conference selection, Ogwumike also holds the record for the most-career player of the week honors with 18, earning half those recognitions during her senior campaign. On the NCAA level, Ogwumike’s rebounding and scoring totals rank fifth and 25th, respectively, all-time.

An international relations major graduating with a 3.46 grade point average, Ogwumike has also received recognition for her outstanding performance in the classroom and in the community. This year, she was voted the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year, becoming only the sixth Stanford recipient since 1990. She was the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Pac-12 All-Academic honoree and was named to the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-America team for the second time in her career.

A two-time women’s basketball team captain, Ogwumike has also been a role model off the court. She was a member of the Cardinal Council (Stanford’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee), serving as the co-chair of the social committee which organized events to raise funds for Camp Kesem, a program that assists with children whose parents have been affected by cancer. She volunteered her time with several children’s organizations, including spending time at local elementary schools and children’s hospitals, while also assisting at various youth basketball camps.

Ogwumike also wrote lyrics and performed two music videos galvanizing the student-athlete community and promoting Stanford’s “Nerd Nation” movement. She also had a pair of internships, one of which led her oversees to intern with the Nigerian Ministry of Petroleum and participating with “Access to Success” which conducted basketball camps to help raise $30,000 to build a court for underprivileged youth in Nigeria.

Ogwumike was also recently awarded Stanford’s Sterling Award for outstanding service to the Stanford community, presented by the Stanford Alumni Association.

Hasslen was a four-time indoor and outdoor track & field athlete at Arizona, competing in the shot put and discus, and was an All-American. She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree, double majoring in retailing and consumer sciences and family studies and human development.

Ogwumike is the ninth student-athlete to be named Pac-12 Woman of the Year. Previous winners were: Brigetta Barrett, ARIZ (2013); Hilary Bach, ASU (2012); Annie Chandler, ARIZ (2011); Justine Schluntz, ARIZ (2010); Lacey Nymeyer, ARIZ (2009); Arianna Lambie, STAN (2008); Whitney Myers, ARIZ (2007); Kate Richardson, UCLA (2006). Barrett is the fifth Wildcat to earn the honor. Four from the Conference have won the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year honor.

The top 30 honorees, 10 from each NCAA division, will be announced in early September. The NCAA Woman of the Year is announced in October.

Also, Chiney and her sister Nneka of the Los Angeles Sparks have created a competition to raise funds to provide broader educational opportunities in Nigeria, where both of their parents were raised.