FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 19, 2014
Courtesy of Bentley Athletics Communications
WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley University senior forward Lauren Battista, the program's all-time leading scorer, has been named the Capital One NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Academic All-America® of the Year by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Battista, who has earned a 3.95 grade point average while majoring in marketing and liberal studies, also earned Academic All-America honors for the third straight year and was the lone repeat selection on the five-player first team.
To put her achievement of being the number one scholar-athlete in Division II into perspective, consider that there are nearly 290 institutions playing women's basketball at the Division II level with 12-14 players per team. That makes Battista was chosen out of a pool of nearly 3,800.
"I am extremely proud to be chosen as the Capital One Academic All-America of the Year, said Battista, who is a two-time WBCA All-America in addition to a three-time Academic All-America. "I have always put equal focus and effort into my studies as I have into my athletic endeavors, and it is an honor to be recognized nationally as a student-athlete who has achieved great success both in the classroom and on the basketball court."
"What a tremendous honor for Lauren," praised Women's Basketball Hall of Fame coach Barbara Stevens, who has amassed 112 of her 905 career victories with Battista on the court. "Her dedication to being the very best in the classroom and on the basketball court have been recognized and rewarded. Lauren is the first Bentley student-athlete to earn Capital One Academic All-America of the Year in any sport. All of us in the Bentley women's basketball program are extremely proud of her."
Battista, who will enter Wednesday's game at Southern New Hampshire one point shy of 1,900, is Bentley's leading scorer for the third straight year, averaging 17.2 points while shooting nearly 60 percent overall. She's helped lead the Falcons to a 23-0 record and the number one ranking in the USA TODAY Sports/WBCA Division II rankings since the preseason.
Battista, a North Easton, Mass. native, ranks in the top ten in Bentley history in 13 categories and will be looking to leading her team to a fourth straight Northeast-10 Conference championship and a third trip to the Elite Eight next month.
A gold medalist at last summer's Maccabiah Games while playing for Team USA, the six-footer has earned a spot on the President's List every semester she's been at Bentley and is coming off a perfect 4.0 this past fall.
