HOPEWELL, N.J. — It's been a busy week on the award front for South Dakota women's basketball's Grace Larkins, and now she can add being on the midseason watch list for the Beck Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats.
 
Larkins has been one of the nation's best mid-major players this season, averaging 25.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game against Division I opponents. Of the 15 players on the watchlist, Larkins is the only player over 20 points, nine rebounds, and five assists per game.
 
The awards have started to pile up for the senior from Altoona, Iowa, who has three Summit League Peak Performer of the Week awards this season, and earned her first two national weekly honors on Tuesday, being named The Associated Press Player of the Week and the USBWA National Player of the Week. Larkins is the first mid-major player this season to receive the AP honor.
 
Through 18 games, Larkins has led the Coyotes in scoring 16 times, including scoring 20-plus in 12 games and 30-plus in four games. She has nine double-doubles this season and has had a double-double in four straight games to start Summit League play.
 
Most recently, Larkins set the South Dakota single-game scoring record with 45 points on a record 19 made field goals against Omaha. Larkins has climbed to fifth in USD history in points, rebounds, and free throws made so far this season.
 
Larkins was on the preseason watchlist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year as well. Fellow Summit Leaguer Brooklyn Meyer of South Dakota State also made the midseason list.
 
The Becky Hammon Award was first given out in 2020, with South Dakota's Ciara Duffy winning the award.
 
About Becky Hammon

Hammon was a three-time All-American at Colorado State and led the Rams to the Sweet 16 in 1999, the program's only appearance to date. She was signed by the New York Liberty in 1999 and traded to the San Antonio Stars in 2007, where she played the rest of her career. Hammon retired in 2014 as a six-time All-Star and a two time All-WNBA First Team honoree. In 2016 she was named one of the top 20 players in WNBA history and was recently named to the W25.
 
Hammon became the second female coach in NBA history when she began coaching for the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. Additionally, Hammon is the only woman to be a head coach in the NBA Summer League and the only woman to be a member of an NBA All-Star coaching staff. Currently, Hammon is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces and won the 2022 and 2023 WNBA Championships.
 
About Her Hoop Stats

Her Hoop Stats was founded in 2017 to unlock better insight about women's basketball at all levels. We began as a statistics site focused on providing consistent, reliable, and easy-to-access data about women's basketball for both mobile and desktop environments. Her Hoop Stats has expanded to become a leading independent voice in the women's game providing content through our newsletter, podcast network, YouTube channel, and social media accounts (Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram).