Kierstan Bell Named 2021 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year presented by Her Hoop Stats
Kierstan Bell Named 2021 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year presented by Her Hoop Stats
The FGCU sophomore guard becomes the second winner of the award and the first to return the following season
HOPEWELL, N.J. (March 31, 2021) — Her Hoop Stats is proud to announce that FGCU sophomore guard Kierstan Bell has been named the 2021 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year presented by Her Hoop Stats. The award, which is in its second season, recognizes the best mid-major player in the country.
Bell excelled in her first year playing in FGCU’s pace and space system, known within the program as Raining Threes. Bell is an efficient and creative scorer around the rim and behind the arc, ranking in the top 35 nationally in field goals per game from 2-point and 3-point range. She averaged 1.23 points per scoring attempt, which is 91st in the country, and her scoring efficiency is even more impressive given her volume of shots.
Bell finished the season with 10.4 Win Shares, which ranks second in Division I. She is also one of two players in the top 10 of both offensive and defensive Win Shares. On the defensive end of the court, Bell averaged 2.0 steals per game (132nd in Division I) and a whopping 2.3 blocks per game (27th in Division I). She is one of just five players to average 2.0 blocks and 2.0 steals a game this season.
Bell led FGCU to one of its most successful seasons since making the move to Division I in 2007, finishing the year with a 26-3 record, including a perfect 16-0 record in ASUN competition and 25 of the last 26. FGCU’s three losses came against the 12th, 18th, and 20th ranked teams in the Her Hoop Stats Rating. FGCU was ranked No. 24 in the final AP Top 25, and the Eagles were ranked as high as No. 21 in the Coaches Poll.
This season, Bell was named the unanimous Player and Newcomer of the Year in the ASUN, and has also been named to the Wade Trophy Midseason Watch List. Bell received honorable mention AP All-American honors this season, the first such honor by an FGCU player since 2016. Bell is also a regional finalist for the WBCA All-American team.
Bell transferred to FGCU after her freshman year playing for Ohio State after being recruited as the No. 8 player in ESPN’s 2019 class rankings. Prior to her collegiate career, Bell became the first three-time recipient of Ms. Basketball in Ohio, joining LeBron James as the only other player to be named Ms. or Mr. Basketball 3 times in the state.
Award Eligibility
To be eligible for the 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, Pac-12, and SEC. Players are selected based on their on-court production in the 2020-21 NCAA season.
About Becky Hammon
Hammon was a three-time All-American during her career 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. 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 as well as the only woman to be a member of an NBA All-Star coaching staff.
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, and social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).