Wells Makes Mid-Major Player of the Year Midseason Watch List

HOPEWELL, N.J. – After landing a spot on a host of preseason watch lists for national player of the year awards, Belmont University women's basketball's Destinee Wells has been named to the midseason watch list for the 2023 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award presented by Her Hoop Stats. The junior guard has appeared on both of the last two preseason watch lists for the national award.
 
Through 17 games, Wells is averaging 16.1 points, 4.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds per contest. She ranks fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring and fifth in assists as the only player in the league averaging over 16 points and four assists.
 
Notching seven 20-point outings already this season, Wells has reached double figures in all but four games. Shooting 42.3 percent from the field and 38.2 percent (26-of-68) from beyond the arc, Wells ranks among the top 60 players in the nation in free-throw percentage (86.1).
 
A native of Lakeland, Tennessee (Houston HS), Wells became the Bruins' 33rd 1,000-point scorer against seventh-ranked Louisville at the Curb Event Center in the second game of the season. With back-to-back 20-point performances to begin 2022-23, including her 20-point showing versus the top-10 ranked Cardinals, Wells was tabbed MVC Player of the Week on Nov. 14. She has scored 1,238 points and recorded 327 assists in 73 career games. Wells has posted double-figure scoring in all but six of her last 62 games and 64 total career outings.
 
Nine times already this season Wells has distributed five or more assists and she has come up with 13 steals. In Belmont's thrilling overtime victory over visiting Troy to close out the non-conference schedule, Wells scored 24 points, dished out a season-high nine assists, grabbed a trio of rebounds and collected a pair of steals. She became the first MVC player since 2016 to total 24 points, nine assists and two steals in a game and the first MVC player since 2012 to tally 24 points, nine assists and two steals while making two or more three-pointers.
 
Wells scored a season-high 26 points on 8-for-15 shooting in the Bruins' win over Saint Louis at the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase and accounted for 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting in Belmont's home conference triumph over UIC. Joining Kylee Smith (12) and Ellie Harmeyer (11), Wells (10) is the third Bruin since 2009-10 to score 25-plus points in 10 more career games.
 
Following the opening week of the season, Wells was named to the 2022-23 John R. Wooden Award^® presented by Wendy's^® Preseason Top 50 Watch List. She also landed spots on preseason watch lists for the 2023 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy and Nancy Lieberman Award.
 
A two-time All-Ohio Valley Conference First Team selection and back-to-back OVC Tournament MVP winner, Wells is joined by Murray State junior forward Katelyn Young as the only two representatives from the MVC on the Becky Hammon Award midseason watch list. The mid major player of the year midseason watch lists includes players from 14 schools and 11 conferences.
 
To be eligible for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award, players must compete in one of the 26 conferences deemed to be "mid-major" – excluding the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC. The 10 semifinalists will be announced in February with five finalists being announced in early March. The winner will be named in late March. The list is fluid and players may play their way on or off the list over the course of the 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 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 as well as 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 WNBA Championship in her first season.

About Her Hoop Stats
Her Hoop Stats was founded in 2017 to unlock better insight about women's basketball at all levels. It 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 its newsletter, podcast network, YouTube channel, and social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram).
 
Follow Belmont women's basketball on social media - @BelmontWBB on Twitter, @belmontwbb on Instagram and Belmont Women's Basketball on Facebook - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.