Lauren Battista, a senior from Bentley University, was named the 2014 DII Woman of the Year nominee for basketball as announced by Executive Director Chris Voelz of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) presented by Honda.

She is now designated one of 11 finalists for the prestigious DII Woman Athlete of the Year honor. This will be voted on at the end of the academic year by national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of THE CWSA program, now in its 38th year.

A native of North Easton, Mass., Battista is a finalist for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II Player of the Year honor and led the Falcons to a perfect 35-0 season as undefeated National Champions.

Battista is Bentley's all-time leading scorer with 2,112 career points after averaging 17.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game this season. She is a three-time WBCA All-America and was the Northeast-10 Player of the Year for the second time in three years. Off the court, she is a three-time Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-America, the 2014 Capital One Academic All-America of the Year for Division II and a two-time recipient of the NE-10 Sport Excellence Scholar-Athlete Award for women's basketball. The dual major (marketing, liberal studies) has a sparkling 3.95 grade point average.

"It’s a tremendous honor to be considered among the best female athletes in Division II and I’m honored to represent women’s basketball for this very prestigious award, “ stated Battista. “I’m just so grateful for all the opportunities that basketball has provided me as a college student-athlete. This entire year has been like a dream come true and I couldn’t picture a better ending for my team and myself. I’m very honored and humbled by the award."

"What a tremendous honor for Lauren to be named basketball's DII Woman of the Year nominee,” said head coach Barbara Stevens.  “To be named as the best in her sport at the DII level is a crowning achievement for Lauren in a season full of accomplishments.“

All sports nominees from DII and DIII become a finalist for the prestigious 2014 CWSA Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year in their respective divisions, presented in June. The sports nominees are recognized in 11 DIII and DII NCAA-sanctioned sports; cross country, basketball, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer,softball, swimming & diving, tennis, volleyball, and track & field.

THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 37 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service.   Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $2.7 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.