GREENSBORO, N.C. – With a soul full of life, Alexis Pitchford was a fantastic ambassador for UNC Greensboro (UNCG) during her time as a member of the women's basketball program.
 
The special, selfless, and positively relentless Pitchford was chosen as UNCG's nominee for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year.
 
The record list of 605 female nominees was released Tuesday afternoon by the national office in Indianapolis with Pitchford representing one of 110 women's basketball players from across all three divisions nominated for this prestigious honor.
 
Pitchford embodies all four pillars of the Woman of the Year award: academics, athletics, service and leadership. 
 
"First off, I would like to say thank you, UNCG, for selecting me as its nominee," Pitchford said. "I appreciate that all of my efforts both on and off the court are being recognized. I've always aspired to become more than an athlete and find ways to help UNCG grow. I hope that this nomination will bring more attention to women in sports all across the world, but especially women's sports at UNCG."
 
This honor is another jewel in Pitchford's crown of achievements.
 
She was recently hired as a graduate assistant in video production at North Dakota State. In April, the Orlando, Fla. native was the first Spartan to earn the Southern Conference Presidential Scholarship. She also attended the NCAA Career In Sports Forum in 2019.
 
Pitchford was inducted into the Golden Chain Honor Society in 2017 and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars in 2018. She was inducted into the Omnicron Delta Kappa Honor Society and the Lambda Pi Eta Honor Society in 2019. 
 
Pitchford has served as a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative since 2017 and has also served as a sportswriter/copy editor for the UNCG student newspaper, the Carolinian, and as a member of the Spartan Sportslink video staff, helping to stream UNCG athletics on ESPN+, for the last three years.
 
She's volunteered at Dream Camp, a day camp designed for children with social skills and friendship challenges, and for Heads Up For Our Youth, a community partnership to teach, motivate and inspire young people to achieve academic success. 
 
Pitchford and a group of others hosted a female-only bible study, Girl Talk, in which she discussed how God can provide guidance for women and young adults. Her goal is to work in sports broadcasting, sports information or videography for an athletic department or sports organization.  
 
"Playing sports is the best way for women to break down gender barriers in today's generation," Pitchford said in her Woman of the Year essay. "It's about bringing attention to women who are accomplishing amazing things that are not receiving the proper attention from mainstream sports media. Young girls and women get discouraged from men receiving more attention, or attaining sports jobs before they do, but we, as women, cannot quit."
 
Pitchford played a major role in helping UNCG enjoy a memorable season.
 
Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Trina Patterson and her committed staff, the Spartans soared to 23 victories, the most since 2002. It was also the most wins in the Division I history of the program. UNCG captured the regular-season Southern Conference title and appeared in the conference tournament championship contest. UNCG also won 10 SoCon games, its most since 2011.
 
A fierce competitor, Pitchford appeared in all 32 games for UNCG while making 17 starts, leading the side with 94 assists. Her assist total ranked eighth in the conference, while her 34 steals were second for the Spartans.

She earned Academic All-SoCon honors in her freshman and sophomore campaigns along with three elections to the SoCon Academic Honor Roll.
 
Pitchford graduated in May with a degree in media studies and minor in communications.
 
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.
 
The nominees represent all three NCAA divisions, including 259 nominees from Division I, 126 from Division II and 220 from Division III. Nominees competed in 24 sports, with multisport student-athletes accounting for 128 of the nominees.
 
Conference offices will select up to two nominees each from their pool of member school nominees. All nominees who compete in a sport not sponsored by their school's primary conference, as well as associate conference nominees and independent nominees, will be considered by a selection committee. Then, 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 Top 30, the Woman of the Year selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division and announce nine finalists. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then will choose the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year, who will be named this fall.
 
"Playing for UNCG was a blessing in the sense of inspiring not only my colleagues, but young girls and women to strive for newer and better opportunities for themselves," Pitchford said. "My four years at UNCG will be cherished, forever."