With the Super Bowl days away, quarterbacks have been on my mind. No, not Peyton Manning and Rex Grossman. I’ve been thinking about the quarterbacks of women’s college basketball: the point guards. They run the plays, distribute the ball and act as the coach on the court. So, in the spirit of the Super Bowl and with an eye toward the 7-point spread that favors the Colts from the basketball-crazy state of Indiana, here are the Top 7 point guards in NCAA Division I this season:
1. Ivory Latta, University of North Carolina: No, question, she’s the leader of this 24-0 Tar Heel team that’s ranked No. 2 in the nation. As Latta goes, so go the Heels. She leads the team, the highest-scoring in the nation, in points with 16.2 a game, and she doles out 4.7 assists per game. While her 107 assists on the season are almost met by her 91 turnovers, it doesn’t seem to matter. Coach Sylvia Hatchell’s run-and-gun style depends on Latta’s speed and live-on-the-edge passing – and on her precision from the perimeter. Latta shoots 45 percent from behind the arc. The diminutive (she’s listed at 5-6, but if she’s over 5-4, I’ll eat my laptop) South Carolinian comes up big when the stakes are high, and her outsized personality makes her a fan favorite. It’s taken her a while to get back into form after a meniscus-tear suffered in last year’s Final Four loss to eventual champ Maryland, but her season-high 32 points in Sunday’s win against the Terps, shows she’s nearly the “110 percent” she claimed to be afterward. This senior won’t be denied.
2. Kristi Toliver, Maryland: As the ball-distributor for the team with the most balanced attack in the country, she’s got a hot hand and a cool head. As a freshman, she hit the three-point shot that capped a comeback from 13 points down and sent the 2006 championship game against Duke into OT. The young Terrapins have not worn the championship mantle easily this season, dropping from No. 1 to No. 4 after losses to undefeated ACC rivals UNC and Duke and to unranked Georgia Tech last night. However, Toliver is a rock to be reckoned with. Even with capable backup Sa’de Wiley-Gatewood and a sharp-passing big in Marissa Coleman, Toliver’s doled out 135 assists, averaging 5.4 a game. She’s among five players on the team to average in double figures in scoring, and she hits an unbelievable 50 percent of her threes and 88 percent from the foul line.
3. Lindsey Harding, Duke: After playing in the shadows of stars Alana Beard and Monique Currie, the fifth-year senior finally has come into her own. She was in full force in the 81-62 throttling her Blue Devils gave then-No. 1 Maryland Jan. 13, when she scored a career-high 28 points and also tallied eight rebounds and four assists. She’s a versatile player with blistering speed. The only player on this list who might challenge her in a foot race is a pre-injury Latta. Harding is second on the team in scoring, with 14.2, and averages 4.4 assists. She plays intense defense and is her the proven leader of the No. 1, 22-0 Blue Devils.
4. Brandie Hoskins, Ohio State University: How hard can it be when your star is paint maven Jessica Davenport, and all you have to do is get her the ball? We’ll when she’s being double- and triple-teamed, it’s not that simple. Hoskins, who averages 4.9 assists, and is second to Davenport in scoring with 14.8 a game, has to know when to dish to Davenport and her supporting cast and when to shoot. The senior’s decision-making has been stellar this season, as the 20-1 Buckeyes are off to their best start ever and ranked No. 5.
5. Dee Davis, Vanderbilt: With 6.2 assists per game, Davis is old school with her pass-first attitude. Her average ranks her 10th in the country, and her 678 career assists surpass dominant deliverer Ashley McElhiney’s 673 for a school best. Her 2.5 steals per game ranks her first on her team. The senior contributes 7.3 points a game to the 19-4, No. 15 Commodores.
6. Lindsey Medders, Iowa State: Her 6.4 assists per game rank her No. 5 in the country. She leads her team with 12.7 points a game and is the all-time assists leader for the 16-6 Cyclones, with 628 for her career and set a school record in a game last season, with 16 assists.
7. Armintie Price, Mississippi: Not only does she play bigger than 5-9 stature, she plays with more heart than most, after losing her mother to cancer in August. She averages a team-leading 18.7 points, which ranks second in the SEC. The senior leads the team with 97 assists and 78 steals, and her 3.7 steals per game is first in the SEC and fourth in the NCAA. She tops the 17-6 Rebels with 8.7 rebounds a game and has recorded eight double-doubles this season.