Miss Nevada competitor Nia Sanchez took home the coveted Miss USA 2014 title yesterday at the live pageant held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The 24-year-old beauty beat out 50 other contestants for the prestigious prize and her victory marks the first time in the competition's history that a beauty queen from Nevada takes the title.

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Sunday's three-hour long telecast narrowed down the 50 lovely ladies to the final six who hailed from Iowa, North Dakota, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Louisiana.

Miss Louisiana, Brittany Guidry, was the hometown favorite and managed to snag the third place spot behind Miss North Dakota, Audra Mari.

Nia Sanchez caught the judges' attention when the fourth-degree black belt in the Korean martial art of taekwondo stated that women need to know how to defend themselves in order to combat issues such as rape.

After being crowned, Sanchez told reporters that as a young girl she lived for a time in a women's shelter and took up taekwondo in order to learn self-defense and to help build her confidence.

As an adult, the beauty queen continued to volunteer at women's shelters and to teach residents how to defend themselves in case of an attack.

Sexual assault was a hot topic this year with fellow competitor Valerie Gatto (Miss Pennsylvania) making headlines earlier in the week by stating in an interview that she is the product of a rape. Reportedly Gatto's mother became pregnant at 19 after she was attacked leaving her workplace.

Gatto said she is living proof "that your circumstances do not define your life."

Having successful women speak out about sexual assault and rape is one step towards dealing with a persistent issue which plagues men and women all around the globe.

Judge Rumer Willis, the 25-year-old daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, brought up the topic with Sanchez, stating that 19 percent of U.S. undergraduate women are victims of sexual assault and asking the young lady why she believes the issue is being swept under the rug and what should be done about it.

In a floor-length red gown, the brunette beauty glowed when she responded saying that self-defense is a great place for women to start taking a stance against perpetrators.

The newly-crowned Miss USA also commented later on that she hopes to bring her passion for martial arts to the masses across the US. 

TagsMiss USA 2014, Miss Nevada, Nia Sanchez