Lyons Selected as Conference Nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year

NORMAN — University of Oklahoma softball senior Grace Lyons has been selected as one of the Big 12 Conference's two nominees for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year. The NCAA announced the 151 conference nominations this week.

Joining Lyons as a nominee from the Big 12 is Ayoka Lee, women's basketball student-athlete from Kansas State.

In her four years in Norman, Lyons has excelled on and off the field for Oklahoma and been an exceptional representative of the softball program.

A 2022 NFCA First Team All-American and top-10 finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, Lyons had a career year at the plate for the Sooners. The Peoria, Ariz., product started 61 of OU's 62 games this season and hit a career single-season best 23 home runs that ranked eighth in the country. She batted .401 with a .864 slugging percentage and 70 RBIs, helping OU to its second consecutive national title and sixth in program history. Recently added to the USA Softball Women's National Team roster, Lyons will compete in the Japan All-Star Series next month with three fellow Sooners.

In the classroom, Lyons is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and three-time Big 12 All-Academic First Team selection. She graduated in May 2022 with a biomedical engineering degree, completing her undergraduate studies with a 3.88 GPA. Also a recipient of the Big 12's highest academic honor, the Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award, Lyons plans to pursue an MBA with her extra year of eligibility in 2023.

The Sooner shortstop is active in the local community as she helps lead the campus branch of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and volunteers at local schools and hospitals, most recently volunteering at the Bethany Children's Health Center in Oklahoma City this summer. Lyons also founded a faith-based summer camp in 2021 for current college athletes, The Player's Conference.

The Woman of the Year Selection Committee will choose 10 nominees from each division to make up the national Top 30 honorees, set to be announced in October. The selection committee will then narrow the pool to three finalists from each division. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2022 Woman of the Year from the nine finalists.

At January's NCAA Convention in San Antonio, the national Top 30 honorees will be celebrated, and the NCAA Woman of the Year will be announced.

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.

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