Ava Heiden's huge upward trajectory will have to be studied after earning another award

In the early stages of this season, CBS Sports named Ava Heiden as a breakout candidate for the way she started the season.

They were right.

Heiden has taken a massive leap from her first to her second year and has easily been Iowa's best player this season.

She has already earned an All-Big Ten First-Team selection, and now she is gaining national recognition before the Hawkeyes take on Farleigh Dickinson in their first NCAA Tournament game.

USBWA gave Heiden an All-American Honorable Mention selection

Heiden has improved all of her numbers this season in her first full season as Iowa's starting center, and the increases have been staggering.

Her points per game increased by 12.4 (from 5.0 to 17.4), her rebounds per game increased by 4.7 (2.6 to 7.3), and her field goal percentage increased by 8.4 (56.1 to 64.7).

Those improvements has everyone talking, and she is gaining national recognition because of it.

The United States Basketball Writers' Association (USBWA) named Heiden an All-American Honorable Mention selection as a result of her dynamic sophomore season to this point.

Heiden could have easily made one of the USBWA All-American teams if the center position wasn't full of stars, including Lauren Betts (UCLA), Audi Crooks (Iowa State), and Raegan Beers (Oklahoma), but she should easily be on one of the three next season.

Iowa is currently preparing to host the first round of the NCAA Women's Tournament and is solely focused on Farleigh Dickinson, and Heiden's nomination should not come as a surprise to anyone who has watched her play this season.

The Hawkeyes will need Heiden to be her normally dominant self in the Tournament in order to make a deep run.