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HOPEWELL, N.J. — Saint Joseph’s junior Laura Ziegler has been named one of the five finalists for the 2025 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats. The Becky Hammon Award was first given out in 2020, with South Dakota’s Ciara Duffy being named the inaugural winner. Gonzaga’s Yvonne Ejim is the reigning winner of the award
The finalists represent five teams and four conferences, including two finalists from the Atlantic 10. Ejim earns her third finalist nod, becoming the first three-time finalist in the award’s six-year history.
Ziegler became just the third Hawk in program history to record 500+ points, 200+ rebounds and 100+ assists in a single season, joining Amy Mallon (1992-93) and Kim Foley (1988-89). The junior posted 18 double-doubles in the regular season, finishing second in scoring in the Atlantic 10 (18.1 ppg), leading the league in rebounding (10.8 rpg) and ranked fourth in assists (4.1 apg). Ziegler became just the fourth Hawk forward to tally 100 assists in a single-season.
The Herlev, Denmark native sits 13th all-time with 1,333 points, setting the new program record for points in a single game with a 43-point effort against Loyola Chicago in February. Ziegler is 24 rebounds shy of becoming the fifth Hawk in program history to reach 900 rebounds in their career, while her 97 blocks rank sixth all-time in program history.
Award Eligibility & Schedule
To be eligible for this award, players must compete in one of the 26 conferences deemed to be “mid-major.” The following conferences are considered high-major for the purposes of this award and thus ineligible: ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, and SEC. Additionally, players from Oregon State and Washington State are ineligible this year as membership in the Pac-12 Conference evolves.
The 25-player preseason watch list was announced in October, and 15 midseason watch list members were announced in January. The 10 semifinalists were announced in February, with the winner scheduled to be announced on April 2. The list is fluid, and players may play their way on or off it over the course of the season.
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).
