Miss Nevada Nia Sanchez, 24 Crowned Miss USA

And the winner is...Miss Nevada!!! Nia Sanchez, 24 was crowned Miss USA Sunday night, during the 63rd telecast of the annual beauty pageant.

The 4^th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do from Nevada was asked a question about sexual assault on college campuses that would put her in the lead to win the Miss USA title.

Sanchez felt that those issues often times get ignored as colleges fear they will receive a bad reputation, she said, "More awareness (of the issue) is very important so that women can learn to protect themselves."

She continued, "You need to be confident and be able to defend yourself ... That's something we need to start to implement for a lot of women."

This year's pageant was live on NBC from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where Giuliana Rancic of E! News, and MSNBC's Way Too Early host Thomas Roberts co-hosted the show.

The first runner-up went to Audra Mari, 20, of North Dakota. The ladies were judged in three traditional beauty pageant categories: swimsuit, evening gown and interview.

Erin Brady, Miss USA 2013, crowned the new Miss USA 2014. She will move on to compete at the international Miss Universe competition.