LIVINGSTON – University of West Alabama softball player Tamara Vickers has earned an NCAA Division II Degree-Completion Award to finish her baccalaureate in Psychology at UWA.

A member of the Gulf South Conference Honor Roll, Vickers was also an all-conference and all-region selection as a player. In addition to her 3.05 grade point average, Vickers batted .304 with nine doubles and 17 runs batted in as the Tigers designated player as a senior during the 2013 season.

According to the NCAA website, the NCAA established the Division II Degree-Completion Award Program in 2001 to provide deserving student-athletes financial assistance for them to complete their first baccalaureate degree.  Candidates are students who have exhausted their athletics eligibility and have received athletics financial aid.

The selection process for the national award emphasizes the academic performance of the student-athlete. Other factors considered are financial circumstances, athletic achievement and involvement in campus and community activities.

Of those student-athletes who have received the award since its inception, 94 percent have earned their undergraduate degree using this program.