WALTHAM, Mass. – For the second straight year, Bentley University All-Academic and Capital One Academic All-America Lauren Battista (North Easton/Oliver Ames HS) has been selected as the recipient of the Northeast-10 Conference Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence award for women's basketball for combined academic and athletic excellence.

When this award was established in 2010, the creators likely had someone like Battista in mind as she has done nothing but succeed during her first three years in a Bentley uniform.  Her impressive resume includes individual and team success on the court and excellence in the classroom where she's amassed a sparkling 3.94 grade point average while majoring in both marketing and liberal studies.

This past season, Battista led Bentley to a 30-2 season, averaging 14.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals. She was the only player in the East Region to shoot at least 50 percent from the floor and 80 percent from the foul line, finishing with accuracy rates of .527 and .821.

Battista was selected to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II All-America team for the second straight year, and also received All-America recognition from Daktronics and Women's Division II Bulletin. She was the MVP of the Northeast-10 Championships for the second straight year, and was a repeat selection on the Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-America team, earning first-team recognition this year after being a third-team member as a sophomore.

Battista, who has guided Bentley to a three-year record of 89-11 with six Northeast-10 championships (three regular season, three playoff), will enter her final season tenth on Bentley's all-time scoring list with 1,504 points.

Battista was joined on the Academic All-Northeast-10 women's basketball team by classmate and teammate Jacqui Brugliera (Fitchburg/Wachusett Reg. HS). The three-time All-Northeast-10 selection averaged 10.5 points and 6.2 rebounds this season, and bumped those numbers to 15.2 points and 7.2 boards in the postseason.

Brugliera, a member of Bentley's 1,000-point club, is a standout student as well, with a 3.76 GPA as a marketing and liberal studies major.

Battista and Brugliera were the only teammates who earned Academic All-NE-10 honors for women's basketball in both 2012 and 2013, and both will have a shot at a three-peat in 2014.