Two women in sports who have taken on tough, public health battles are being honored with the Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award.
Coach Angel Elderkin and broadcaster Holly Rowe will receive the award in the spring in Dallas, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association announced Thursday. The award has been presented annually since 2010.
It's the first time the association has named dual honorees since Summitt's name was placed on the award in 2012, according to the association.
Elderkin, once an assistant for Summitt, has continued to coach Appalachian State's women's team while fighting ovarian cancer.
Rowe, an ESPN sportscaster, has been battling desmoplastic melanoma.
Related: Coach Pat Summitt dies
Summitt died in June, five years after disclosing she'd been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. The passing of the legendary Lady Vols coach resonated with basketball sportswriters when considering whom to recognize with the courage award.
"When it came to initially consider a recipient for this year's honor, there was a sense of wanting to do something exceptional in the aftermath of the Hall of Fame Tennessee women's coach's passing last June..." Mel Greenberg, the women's representative on the USBWA board, said in the Thursday release.
The awards will be presented to the women at an association press conference in Dallas at the NCAA Women's Final Four, which begins March 31.
Rowe is the first recipient of the award who is neither a coach, player or team public relations person, according to the association.
The writers group has more than 900 members and also selects the All-America team.
