Baker’s Larson selected as Heart Player of the Year; Lister named COY

? After cutting down the nets to celebrate its Heart of America Athletic Conference regular season championship following a 77-59 win over Grand View on Saturday, the Baker women’s basketball team received two more prestigious awards on Monday.

Baker senior forward Kelsey Larson stuffed the stat sheet by averaging 11.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game to be selected at the Heart Player of the Year, and BU coach Ben Lister was tabbed as the Heart Coach of the Year for the third time.

Senior Mackenzie Cook and sophomore Jessica Zweifel were named to the all-conference second team, and senior Sydney Buchel was picked as an honorable mention. Larson was Baker’s lone first-team selection.

The No. 8-ranked Wildcats (26-4 overall, 24-2 in the Heart) will host Grand View again at 7 tonight in the Heart conference tournament quarterfinals. Baker is riding a 12-game winning streak into the conference tournament.

By winning the Heart regular season championship, the Wildcats earned an automatic bid to the NAIA Division I national tournament, which will be held from March 15-21 in Billings, Montana. The Wildcats made a run to the NAIA title game last year before falling to Heart rival MidAmerica Nazarene, 49-35.