Rhyan Joplin Hamilton, a Brookville High School student and the sister of New York Giants football player and Heritage High School graduate Keith Hamilton, died Saturday night in a car accident.

Virginia State Police said Hamilton 17, of Forest, was driving north on U.S. 29, one mile south of Virginia 40 in Pittsylvania County at 8:30 p.m. when she apparently fell asleep at the wheel.

The 1994 Toyota Landcruiser ran off the road to the left, and after overcorrecting twice, it overturned several times, partially ejecting Hamilton from the car.

Hamilton was taken to Danville Regional Medical Center, where she died at 9:57 p.m.

"She was a straight-A student, and a really ambitious kid," said Hamilton's cousin Allen Smith, of New Jersey.

Smith said he had spoken to Hamilton two weeks ago, and although she was only a junior at Brookville, Hamilton already had her mind set on attending Spelman College, a women's school in Atlanta, Ga.

Brookville High School Principal Jim Whorley said Hamilton was "one of those students you just wish you had a whole school full of."

He said she was active in the school's drama department and track and field team.

Smith said Hamilton was fond of singing, and had even made a few amateur recordings at studios in New York City.

"We were thinking she might even make it in the entertainment business," he said. "She just had the world in front of her."