Former Miner Cameasha Tuner Tabbed As One of Nine NCAA Woman of the Year Finalist

Former UTEP women’s basketball star and UTEP graduate Cameasha Turner has been chosen as one of nine finalists for the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year Award, as announced by the NCAA Office Tuesday.

The distinguished group, whose collegiate careers are highlighted by outstanding achievements in academics, athletics, community service and leadership, will be honored at an awards dinner in Indianapolis, Ind., on Oct. 16. The 2016 Woman of the Year will be named at the event.

Turner’s advancement to the final round is an incredible accomplishment given that the process originally started with a record 517 nominees. The NCAA Woman of the Year committee whittled that number down to 142 conference nominees before again reducing the field significantly to 30 women-10 from each of the three NCAA divisions. The last round of cuts brought the number to nine, with three women from each NCAA division selected.

Turner was a natural leader on the court, in the classroom and among the community. She graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA as a criminal justice major with a minor in psychology and legal reasoning. Turner then received the Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship Award. She is now chasing her dream of becoming a lawyer and ultimately a judge as a first semester law student at the University of Notre Dame.

The Dallas native was active with different organizations on campus and volunteered with the Special Olympics, Children's Hospital, Let's SAAC Hunger and the UTEP Mini Basketball Clinic during the academic year. With the Special Olympics, she help set up fun activities and games for the children to take part in. She also met with kids with cancer to help elevate their spirits in their time of need.

The 2016 UTEP Female Athlete of the Year made history in the classroom, becoming the first Miner women’s basketball student-athlete to be recognized as a CoSIDA Academic All-American (second team). Turner was also voted to the CoSIDA Academic All-District and C-USA Women’s Basketball All-Academic teams for the second straight year.

Turner, an All-Conference USA first team and All C-USA defensive team honoree, was a leader for the Miners during a banner senior season. She averaged 13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.5 assists while pacing the team in field-goal percentage (49.5), free-throw percentage (77.3) and minutes per game (30.5) to help guide the Orange and Blue to some big accomplishments.

UTEP claimed the 2016 regular-season Conference USA championship, garnered a top-25 ranking in the USA Today Coaches Poll and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2016 WNIT while also equaling the school's single-season record for both overall (29) and conference (16) wins.

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