INDIANAPOLIS – Following a career in which she graduated this past spring as the program's all-time assist leader, former FGCU women's basketball guard DyTiesha Dunson has been nominated for the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year award.
 
Established in 1991 and now in its 26th year, the Woman of the Year award honors graduating female student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership.
 
Of the record 517 nominees, 231 competed in Division I, 117 competed in Division II and 169 competed in Division III. From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top-3 nominees from each division and announces the top-9 finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics selects the 2016 Woman of the Year, which will be announced on Oct. 16.
 
As a double major in criminal justice and psychology, Dunson carried a 3.65 GPA. This past season, she was named to the Atlantic Sun Conference All-Academic Team for the first time and was also tabbed as the ASUN Defensive Player of the Year.
 
"Being a double major is very challenging to combine with athletics," stated FGCU head coach Karl Smesko. "I saw firsthand how exhausting excelling at both can be. Although it was far from easy, D.T. found a way to meet all of the expectations put on her and is very deserving of this nomination."
 
On the court, Dunson was a captain in 2015-16. Around campus, she helped support several organizations, most notably Project Help. She aided in promoting suicide awareness by providing information to students and creating a video about the topic.
 
Dunson finished her time in the Green and Blue with 454 assists – one of just two players in program history with more than 400 helpers. Her 132 games played ranks tied for the 4th-most in program history, while she ranks in the top 10 all-time in blocks (6th, 40) steals (7th, 143) and rebounds (9th, 385).
 
During her four-year career, Dunson was part of four postseason teams (two NCAA, two WNIT) as the Eagles went 117-24 in that timeframe, including a dominant 63-1 mark in ASUN contests which helped lead to four-straight regular-season league titles and two tournament championships.
 
In the community, Dunson partnered with Project Help to spread awareness about sexual violence and assault, assisted in creating a website and sign to help save the manatees for Happehatchee, worked on a video to raise funds for women and children at the Abuse Counseling Treatment Center and helped develop skills of youth campers at FGCU's basketball camps and at the YMCA.
 
Dunson is the second member of the women's basketball program to be nominated for Woman of the Year, joining all-time leading scorer and rebounder Sarah Hansen in 2014. Last year, former softball standout Kelsey Carpenter and swimming record holder Emma Svensson were nominated for the prestigious honor.
 
Dunson is one of four ASUN student-athletes nominated for the award, joining Samantha Bersett from NJIT's women's soccer team, Amy Taylor from UNF's swimming and diving program and Kelly Young from Lipscomb's softball club. In July, ASUN officials will select up to two conference representative for Woman of the Year, while Taylor will be eligible as the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association representative as the Ospreys – along with FGCU – compete in the CCSA for swimming and diving. Svensson was selected as the CCSA representative last year.
 
ABOUT @FGCU_WBB
FGCU has won six-straight Atlantic Sun Conference Regular Season Championships after compiling its fourth perfect conference season in five years in 2015-16. Led by seven-time ASUN Coach of the Year Karl Smesko, the 2015-16 team finished the historic season with an overall record of 33-6 and a league mark of 14-0. The club won a program-record five games in the WNIT before falling just short in the championship game, and finished the season with the team's best-ever Division-I win total.
 
ABOUT KARL SMESKO
Smesko has guided the Eagles to 12-straight 20+ win seasons. He maintains a record of 378-73 at FGCU for a win percentage of .838 with a mark of 145-13 (.917) in ASUN contests and has led the team to an 81-1 record in conference play in the last five seasons. Smesko earned his 400th career win last season in just 493 career games – two contests faster than UConn's Geno Auriemma – and holds a career record of 439-100 (.815). Smesko ranks among an elite list of just four active D-I coaches with a career win percentage of .800 or higher, joining Auriemma, Baylor's Kim Mulkey and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer in the esteemed group.
 
SOCIAL CENTRAL
For up-to-the-minute information and behind-the-scenes access to the women's basketball program, follow @FGCU_WBB on Twitter and Instagram and Like us on Facebook at /FGCUWBB.
 
SUPPORT THE CAUSE
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.