BLACKWELL, N.J. — Laura Ziegler has been named to the 15-player midseason watch list for the 2025 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats, organization officials announced on Wednesday morning.
 
This year's midseason list includes representatives from 15 teams and 10 conferences. Five conferences – the A-10, MEAC, Mountain West, Missouri Valley and Summit League – placed two players on the watch list.
 
Ziegler averages 17.3 points and 11.5 rebounds per game while dishing out 70 assists and posting 16 blocks in the first 16 games of the season – all team-highs. The junior from Herlev, Demark has scored in double-figures in every game on the year and ranks second in the country with 11 double-doubles. Ziegler became the first Hawk in nearly 40 years to record a triple-double, posting two within the span of 24 days.
 
The forward ranks fourth in the country with her 11.5 rebounds per game, leading the nation with 9.6 defensive rebounds per game. Ziegler currently is recording career-highs in points, rebounds and assists per game while registering her best percentages from distance (37.0%) and the free throw line (93.8%). The Dane has tallied four games with 20+ points, including a career-high 30 points in a win at Southern Utah earlier this season. Ziegler also set a career-high with 17 rebounds against La Salle earlier in conference play while reaching double-digit assists twice in the non-conference.
 
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 10 semifinalists will be announced in February. The five finalists will be announced in early March, with the winner announced around the Final Four. 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.