DES MOINES –Heather Larson (Jr.-Canton, Ill.) of Iowa Wesleyan College has been named the Midwest Collegiate Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week, as announced today by conference sports information director Molly Brown.
Larson averaged 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds last week as the Tigers won both of their games to stay undefeated in conference play. She shot 55.6% from the field, making 10 of 18 shots, and hit six of 11 three-point tries (54.5%) in Wesleyan’s wins over St. Ambrose University and Mount Mercy College.
The junior transfer from Carl Sandburg (Ill.) College came up especially big in IWC’s 68-61 win on Saturday over Mount Mercy. In a matchup of the only two teams undefeated in the MCC going in, Larson scored an IWC career high 22 points, hitting five three-pointers, and also pulled down six rebounds. She scored 21 of the Tigers’ first 45 points in the game and helped Wesleyan defeat a Mustangs team that was 31st in the NAIA Division II national ratings last week.
Larson also added 11 points and grabbed five rebounds in the Tigers’ 68-55 win over defending MCC champion St. Ambrose last Wednesday. For the season she is averaging 10.3 points per game, second on the team. She also leads the team in rebounding with 4.7 boards per game and paces the team in both free throw percentage (81.1%) and three-point percentage (39.1%). She is the first IWC player this season to win the conference’s weekly award for women’s basketball.
The Tigers are now 5-0 in the MCC, 10-7 overall, and this week are ranked 25th in the NAIA Division II coaches’ poll. IWC faces a pair of road tests this week, including a tough game Wednesday night in Des Moines at Grand View University as well as a trip to La Crosse, Wis., to face Viterbo University on Saturday.
For more information regarding the IWC basketball programs or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
