EVANSTON, Ill. -- Hannah Nielsen (Adelaide, Australia/Brighton Secondary) has once been named one of 10 team finalists for the 2009 Women's Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year. It marks the second consecutive year Nielsen has been among the 10 finalists as she is the only athlete who was also on the ballot in 2008.

Nielsen finished her career as the NCAA Division I career assist leader with 224, while also holding both the single-game (10) and single-season (83) assist marks. She is the program's all-time leader in points with 398 (174G, 224A), which is the third-best career total in NCAA history. Nielsen was a four-year starter for NU, posting an 85-3 record in a Wildcat uniform.

At the end of her senior season in May, Nielsen made an NCAA Division I championship-round-record six assists and led her team to its fifth straight national championship after beating North Carolina 21-7. Also in May, she won the Tewaaraton Trophy, the pre-eminent lacrosse award honoring the top female and male varsity collegiate lacrosse player in the United States, for the second-straight year.

A three-time first-team All-American, Nielsen earned Player of the Year honors by a number of organizations for the second time, as well as earning her second-straight Lacrosse Honda Sports Award. In June, Nielsen helped lead Australia to the silver medal at the FIL World Cup in Prague, notching a goal and an assist in the championship game. She was then named to the All-World team.

Wildcat fans can vote for Nielsen by visiting womenssportsfoundation.org until 11:00 p.m. CT on Sunday, August 9. The winner will be announced at the Annual Salute to Women in Sports Awards Dinner on October 13, 2009, at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Past winners of the award include notables such as Lisa Leslie, Mia Hamm, Annika Sorenstam and Serena and Venus Williams.

2009-08-03