INDIANAPOLIS – Lincoln Memorial graduating senior Lise Malherbe has been nominated for the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Malherbe is one of nine women from the South Atlantic Conference nominated and one of 131 from NCAA Division II.

She is the first LMU athlete to be nominated since former All-SAC tennis and cross-country performer Sofia Lopez Mimendi, who eventually was a Top 30 honoree, in 2012.

In total 585 women from NCAA Division I, II and III programs were nominated. Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year Award recognizes graduating female college athletes who have exhausted eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.

Malherbe starred for four years on the LMU Women’s Golf Team. During the 2019 season she had two individual first place finishes and qualified for the NCAA Division II Super South Regional, where she finished 22nd overall..

During her four-year career Malherbe was a first team All-South Atlantic Conference selection twice, was a SAC Women’s Golf Scholar Athlete of the Year and a 2018-19 Google Cloud Academic All-District At-Large Team selection. Malherbe was also the valedictorian of the 2018 Fall Commencement graduating class.

On the course, Malherbe has four first place finishes to her credit, 16 top 5 finishes and 18 top 10 finishes in 43 career events. She is one of only three LMU women’s golfers to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament and not only set new program single-season records for scoring average (75.13) and win-loss percentage (.908), but also is the program’s career leader in scoring average with 78.10.

The SAC will select up to two nominees from the pool of nine candidates and present them to the Woman of the Year selection committee, which will choose the Top 30 honorees—10 from each division

The NCAA selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division and announce the finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will then choose the 2019 NCAA Woman of the Year. The winner will be announced at the annual awards ceremony October 20 in Indianapolis.