FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 30, 2014
SOUTH EASTON, Mass. - Senior women's basketball player Lauren Battista of Bentley University has been named as the 2013-14 Capital One Division II Academic All-America® of the Year, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The prestigious honor comes exactly one month after Battista was recognized as the Honda Division II Athlete of the Year by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards during a televised ceremony in Los Angeles.
Battista, who graduated Summa Cum Laude in May after earning a sparkling 3.96 grade point average while majoring in both marketing and liberal studies, was chosen from a group of 12 stellar student-athletes. Each had earned Academic All-America of the Year honors in their respective sports during the course of the year.
"I am so honored to be recognized as the top student-athlete in Division II athletics," said Battista. "I have always taken so much pride in my ability to excel in the classroom and I am so lucky I was able to go to an institution like Bentley that has a top notch business curriculum and basketball program. Now that basketball is over, it is my experience as a student that will help me be successful in the next chapter of my life and Bentley has definitely prepared me for that."
Battista, a forward for the Falcons, led Bentley to the 2014 NCAA Division II Championship title with unblemished 35-0 mark, becoming only the second undefeated women's basketball national champion in Division II history. She was named the Division II Player of the Year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association in 2014, As a senior, the North Easton, Massachusetts, native averaged 17.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals a contest while shooting 57.5 percent from the floor and 81.9 percent from the free throw line.
Battista, who compiled a 3.96 G.P.A. while earning a bachelor's degree in marketing and liberal studies, was named the 2014 Honda Division II Athlete of the Year by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards. The three-time Capital One Academic All-America® selection was also named a three-time WBCA Division II All-America choice.
Battista finished her outstanding career as the Falcon's all-time leading scorer with 2,112 points. She also set new University standards for games played (135), games started (133), field goals (821) and field goals attempted (1,512). She led Bentley to a 124-11 record during her four campaigns with four Northeast-10 championships and three trips to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
She is a three-time recipient of the NE-10 Sport Excellence Scholar-Athlete Award for women's basketball and a four-time All-NE-10 honoree, including first team accolades the past three seasons. She was named the NE-10 Player of the Year for the second time in three years and named the MVP of the NE-10 Tournament four times, unprecedented in conference history in any sport. She was also named both the Woman of the Year and the Female Student-Athlete of the Year in the NE-10 in 2014.
"What an honor for Lauren to be named the DII Academic All-America of the Year in all sports!" said Bentley head coach Barbara Stevens, who was named the 2014 WBCA Division II National Coach of the Year. "This is a young woman who made it her mission to excel on the basketball court and in the classroom and succeeded in doing both. To be named the Academic All-America of the Year from among the finest student-athletes in the country is a crowning achievement in an illustrious career for Lauren. We're all extremely proud of her!"
The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,000 student-athletes.
Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in Conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sports sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
Content for this release provided by Bentley University and CoSIDA
– #NE10 –
Congrats to Bentley's Lauren Battista, named @CapitalOneAAA @NCAAII Academic All-America® of the Year http://t.co/3all3f8ZgJ
— CoSIDA (@CoSIDAnews) July 30, 2014
