VERMILLION, S.D. – The final few weeks of the regular season have arrived and South Dakota women's basketball's Grace Larkins has been named a semifinalist to the Beck Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year presented by Her Hoop Stats.
 
Larkins has shined in her final season as a Coyote, averaging 24.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game, leading the Summit League in all three categories. Her numbers against Division I opponents are just as strong, as Larkins averages 25.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists.
 
Larkins, a senior from Altoona, Iowa, has been making waves all season, but has really stepped up her game during conference play. Larkins received the Associated Press National Player of the Week and the USBWA National Player of the Week honors after setting a USD scoring record with 45 points in a win over Omaha on Jan. 11.
 
Saturday against North Dakota State, Larkins reset her single game best by scoring 47 points. That mark is the second most points by a Division I player in a single game this season and broke the Summit League single game scoring record. Larkins is the only player with two 40-point games this season and has two of the four highest scoring games this season.
 
Larkins has also racked up the conference honors this season. She has five Summit League Peak Performer of the Week honors and one monthly honor. She has received the weekly award four times in the six weeks of conference play.
 
Larkins was on the preseason and midseason watchlist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year as well. She is the only Summit League athlete that made the semifinalist 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).