Kelly Moten, a senior guard from Emporia State, was named the 2017 DII Honda Athlete of the Year nominee for Basketball as announced by Executive Director Chris Voelz of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) presented by Honda.

Moten is now designated one of 11 finalists for the prestigious DII Honda Woman Athlete of the Year. This will be voted on at the end of the academic year by national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of THE CWSA program, now in its 41st year.

Moten, the 2017 Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) DII Player of the Year, finished her Lady Hornets career ranked third in career scoring (1,932 points), fourth in free throws (479), fifth in assists (506) and steals (215), and ninth in blocked shots (103). She has played the most games by a Lady Hornet, going 116-20 in 136 career games. She is the first player in NCAA Division II history to score 1900 points with 600 rebounds, 500 assists, 200 steals and 100 blocked shots.

The senior guard from Gary, Ind., was named the MIAA Player and Defensive Player of the Year and earned first-team All-MIAA honors and All-Defensive honors for the third straight year. She was named to the NCAA Central Region All-Tournament team each of the last three years and was the first player to earn MIAA All-Tournament team honors four straight years.

Recently Moten was named a first-team CoSIDA/D2CCA All-American and becomes just the fourth Lady Hornet to earn first-team All-American honors from both the WBCA and CoSIDA in the same year.

“It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized as a finalist for the DII Honda Woman Athlete of the Year,” said Moten. “My journey at Emporia State could not be complete without my coaching staff, my teammates, my family, my friends and the entire Emporia community. Being a finalist for such a prestigious honor allows me the opportunity to be a role model to the kids back home and the kids around Emporia.”

“Kelly’s come a long way since her redshirt freshman year to put herself in this position. She came from a rough neighborhood as far as where she grew up. She was extremely fortunate to have a terrific family that looked out for her and kept her on the right path,” stated head coach Jory Collins. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a player that has grown as much on the court and off the court. She has really developed into a phenomenal player, but also a tremendous person in our community.”

All Honda Sports nominees from DII and DIII become a finalist for the prestigious 2017 Honda Woman Athlete of the Year in their respective divisions, presented in a live telecast on CBS Sports on June 26, 2017, in downtown Los Angeles. The Honda Sports nominees are recognized in 11 DII and DIII NCAA-sanctioned sports; cross country, basketball, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, volleyball, and track & field.

THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 41 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service.   Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.1 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.