NCAA: The Ten Best Passers in Women's Basketball

[Ignatius L Hoops]

The 10 best passers in women's college basketball for 2023-24

Women's college basketball is officially flush with elite distributors, as five of the six leading assisters from a year ago are returning to school. Here's a look at the ten passers around the sport leading into the 2022-23 campaign.

www.ncaa.com

Two from the B1G:

1. Caitlin Clark, Iowa (8.6 assists/game last season)​

College basketball's sweet-stroking phenom tops yet another list (gasp), but looking past her 3-pointers from Omaha reveals almost unquestionably the sport's best passer. Clark ran away with the DI assist title in 2023, but her adjusted numbers are even more impressive — the Hawkeye PG beat second-place Nika Mühl by almost a dime and a half with 10 assists per 40 minutes.

And while Clark does have the ball in her hands a disproportionate amount of the time — her 36.4 percent usage rate ranks eight in college basketball — she's also a more scoring-focused guard than any player on this list; heck, than any player in the country.

Clark works to find her teammates in a variety of ways but is particularly dazzling in pick-and-roll situations, firing one-handed missiles off the dribble into the palms of rolling Iowa bigs. The Naismith Player of the Year also excels in post entries and transition passing, a crucial aspect of Iowa's DI-best scoring offense.

9. Jeanae Terry, Purdue (6.3 assists/game)​

With a stocky 5-foot, 11-inch frame that creates mismatches on both ends, Terry has separated herself as an elite stat sheet stuffer through four seasons of Big Ten basketball — Terry spent her first two years at Illinois before crossing the border into West Lafayette. Starting all 30 games for the Boilers last campaign, Terry averaged 6.5 points, snagged nearly eight rebounds and poked away 2.3 three steals per game, good for third in the Big Ten last season, but it was another season of elite facilitating that elevated her into second-team All-Conference candidacy.

Often sparking fast-break opportunities personally with her patently handsy defense, Terry shows tremendous touch on her long outlet passes, also proving effective in using her frame and length to pass over defenses and getting in the lane, forcing defenders to respect her strong drives and capable mid-range shooting. Leading Purdue to its first tournament berth since 2017 a year ago, Terry will hope to lead the Boilers past the First Four in her final year of eligibility.

 

[60's Guy]

Battle was at 4.4 assists last year. She had 10, 9 and 8 twice in games. Braun gets more deadly and the offense is more disciplined, she's more comfortable etc. I could see her jumping to 6 per game.