ST. PAUL, Minn. – Macalester College's Peyton Starks (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School), who graduated this May after an outstanding career as a member of the Scots' women's basketball team, has been chosen as one of the MIAC's two nominees for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year award, the conference announced today. Starks and Bethel's Hailey Gregg also are the MIAC's nominees for the Division III Commissioners Association (DIIICA) Student-Athletes of the Year awards.

Starks is the first Macalester student-athlete to be selected as the MIAC's nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year since the conference began nominating in 2006.

The NCAA Woman of the Year was established in 1991 to honor graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service, and leadership throughout their collegiate careers. The NCAA encourages member schools to honor their top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the award.

A three-time All-MIAC selection and a two-time All-Region honoree, Starks was named the MIAC Offensive Player of the Year this season. She averaged 18.6 points per game this year, nearly three points per game more than the second-leading scorer in the conference. Starks is the only women's basketball player to lead the MIAC in scoring for three straight years since the 1999-2000 season (MIAC statistics are inconsistent prior to the 1999-2000 season). Her scoring average ranks 36th in Division III and fourth in Region 9.

This season Starks earned MIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors three times while scoring at least 20 points in 11 games, including a season-best 32 points against UW-Superior on Nov. 16. She also made an impact on the defensive end, averaging 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game to rank eighth and third, respectively in the MIAC.

In 101 career games at Macalester, Starks recorded 1,652 points to finish as the Scots' second-leading scorer all-time. Her 639 rebounds rank eighth on Macalester's all-time list. She also holds career school records for field goals (646) and free throw percentage (.832).

Off the court, Starks was an excellent student, earning Academic All-District and Academic All-MIAC honors three times. She also served on Macalester's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) as a board member, secretary/community engagement chair and vice president. Through her work with SAAC, Starks organized toy drives for children at a local hospital and welcomed girls to campus to teach them various sports. A neuroscience major at Macalester, she graduated magna cum laude in May and intends to pursue a career in public health and science policy.

Following the announcements of Conference nominees, the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the Top 30 honorees — 10 from each division. The selection committee will determine the top three honorees in each division from the Top 30, and nine finalists will be announced in November. From those nine finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will announce the 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year at the NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C. in January 2026.

This is the fourth year of the DIIICA awards, which recognize graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence, service, and leadership. Voting is conducted by the commissioners within each of the ten regions, with the top men's sport and women's sport honorees recognized as finalists for the Awards Committee to select the Division III Commissioner's Association Men's Sport and Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year. The awards are sponsored by Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athlete Honor Society. Regional and national honorees for both the DIIICA awards will be announced in August.

Click here to view the MIAC release.