After a standout career on and off the court at Belmont, women’s basketball player and 2018 graduate Sally McCabe was named the Ohio Valley Conference 2018 Woman of the Year.
McCabe was first nominated by Belmont and then selected by the OVC in July. The OVC selection made her one of 153 women nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award.
“I honestly was shocked and touched that Belmont would select me as their nomination to send to the OVC,” said McCabe. “I really didn’t think that it was going to go any further than that, and I was more than fine with that because of how much the nomination meant.”
The award is not only based on athletic ability and success on the court or field, it also includes leadership and performance in the classroom.
McCabe graduated in August of 2018 with a degree in psychology and a 3.86 GPA and has been named to the Dean’s List eight times, according to the Belmont athletics website.
“It took a lot of time management skills that I quickly learned my freshman year. It definitely wasn’t easy, but I got used to not having a lot of time to do all of my studying and homework,” said McCabe.
Last year, she was named Belmont University’s 2018 Presidential Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was one of six OVC student-athletes to receive the prestigious OVC Scholar-Athlete Award, according to the Belmont athletics website.
“It’s always been student first in the title ‘student-athlete,’” said McCabe. “I had an incredible opportunity to receive a top of the line education from Belmont and I was going to take full advantage of that and learn as much as possible.”
McCabe was part of a historic era at Belmont — winning three OVC regular season championships and three OVC tournaments. During McCabe’s senior year, she helped lead the team to a 31-4 overall record and 18-0 conference record.
The team went on to win the OVC regular season and the OVC tournament. It was also the first Belmont team to receive an Associated Press top 25 ranking.
McCabe holds the records for points made (1,540) and field goals made (468) in Belmont’s NCAA Division I era.
Next month, 10 finalists will be selected from each NCAA division. These 30 women will all be honored — and one will be selected for the award — on Oct. 28.