Pivec Named NCAA Woman of the Year Finalists
CORVALLIS – Oregon State's Mikayla Pivec has received one of the biggest honors ever bestowed upon an Oregon State student-athlete, as she has been named a finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
Pivec is the second Beaver in history to be selected as a finalist for the award, joining Joy Selig who was chosen as one of 10 finalists in 1991, the first year the award was given.
Rooted in Title IX, the NCAA Woman of the Year Award was established in 1991 to recognize graduating female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.
Selected from a record 605 school nominees — a group that was then narrowed to 161 nominees by conference offices — the group has been cut down to nine Finalists, three from each of the NCAA's three divisions. The finalists and Top 30 honorees will be celebrated and the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced during a virtual awards show Friday, Nov. 13. The show will be streamed on the NCAA Twitter account and ncaa.org/woty, and it will be streamed by ESPN.
Pivec is the co-founder of Beavs CARE (Corvallis Athletes Reaching Everyone), which aims to bring Oregon State student-athletes together for service initiatives. The guard traveled to the Dominican Republic as part of a service trip with Beavers Without Borders, and has volunteered numerous hours with IMPACT for Life, Community Outreach Incorporated, Corvallis Women's Shelter and the DAM Worth It Campaign.
Pivec was a team captain, and completed her undergraduate degree in three years, majoring in BioHealth Sciences. From there she moved on to work toward a degree in Biochemistry and Biophysics. Pivec earned Academic All-America honors the last two years, and was tabbed as Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year after her senior year.
For her work on the court, Pivec was selected as an All-America Honorable Mention by both the AP and the USBWA. The senior was named to the All-Pac-12 team, the Wooden Award Ballot, the Cheryl Miller Award Top-10, and the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team, and was a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award. The guard from Lynnwood, Wash. averaged 14.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game during her senior season. She set Oregon State's career rebounding record. Pivec finished second in the Pac-12 in rebounding and fifth in the conference in field goal percentage. The guard had 14 double-doubles in 2019-20, and is in the top-10 in Oregon State history for career points, rebounds and assists.
The 2020-21 Beaver women's basketball squad opened practice for the upcoming season on Wednesday, with the season slated for a potential Nov. 25 start. Oregon State is one of the most successful women's basketball programs of the last decade, having appeared in every WBCA Coaches Poll since the end of the 2013-14 Season. The Beavers have made the last four Sweet 16's and the last six NCAA Tournaments, including a Final Four appearance in 2016.
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