Happy Leap Day everybody! I originally was thinking of doing some sort of Leap Day-based topic, but I couldn't really think of anything that fun. Besides, I did my men's college basketball All-Americans the other day, and I'm always all about equal time when it comes to men's and women's college basketball. So, as a result, women's All-American selections it is.
Unlike the men's side, the best team and best player in women's college basketball are abundantly obvious. Baylor's Brittany Griner will be the Player of the Year. And she should be. Griner's clearly the best player in the country, and Baylor is clearly the best team. The Bears are undefeated, have been No. 1 all season, and are as overwhelming a favorite for the National Championship as there can possibly be. So, just how good is Brittany Griner? For starters, she leads the nation in blocks with 5.3 per game. She also second in the nation in field goal percentage (.611) and seventh in scoring (22.6 ppg). There's some room for improvement in her rebounding, though. She averages only 9.7 boards per game. Oh, and did I mention, that she's the only college player still in the running to be on the U.S. Olympic team that's favored for gold in London.
If any team has a shot of beating Baylor this season, it might be Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are Rafael Nadal to Baylor's Novak Djokovic. Notre Dame is the second-best team in the nation. Their star is Skylar Diggins. Her coming-out party came in last year's NCAA Tournament, when she led Notre Dame to the championship game. She's been just as good this year. Diggins averages 17.3 points and 5.9 assists per game. She also has the 13th-best assist-turnover ratio in the nation (2.26). Diggins is the best point guard in the country, and she's a big reason why Notre Dame ended UConn's reign atop the Big East.
Stanford's Ogwumike sisters (Nneka and Chiney) could easily both be on the All-American list. And they'd both be deserving selections. Frankly, I'd want to go up against one Ogwumike about as much as I'd want to go against Griner; I don't envy the Pac-12 teams that have to go against both of them on a nigthly basis. But I think Nneka is the better player (if ever so slightly), so she gets the edge. Nneka Ogwumike is an almost automatic double-double. She's had 14 of them in 26 games. In fact, she's averaging a double-double (21.7 ppg, 10.5 rpg). For good measure, Nneka's also on the national leaderboard in both field goal percentage (.536) and free throw percentage (.819). Nneka will probably be the Pac-12 Player of the Year.
If you didn't already know about Elena Delle Donne, the Sports Illustrated feature on her and her family brought national attention to her incredible story. Delle Donne signed with UConn, but was so homesick that she left the school after two days. She walked on to Delaware's volleyball team (and made the CAA All-Rookie Team), then decided to return to basketball after a year away from the game. This year, she's made it abundantly obvious why she'd be just as much of a star at UConn as she is at Delaware. Delle Donne leads the nation in scoring (28.3 ppg) and averages 10.4 rebounds per game. She's also sixth in the nation in free throw percentage (.893), 20th in blocks (2.6) and 28th in field goal percentage (.524). Yeah, she's THAT good. That could explain why Delaware's 26-1, nationally ranked for the first time in program history, and a lock for the NCAA Tournament.
After the four obvious ones, there are plenty of choices for First Team All-American No. 5. But I'm going with the best freshman in the country: Duke's Elizabeth Williams. Williams was the ACC Rookie of the Year and a First Team All-ACC selection. Her numbers aren't as staggering as some of the others', and she's benefitted by the presence of Chelsea Gray, but Williams is the difference-maker for that team. She's third in the nation with 3.6 blocks per game while also averaging 14.4 points and 8.4 rebounds. There have been 10 triple-doubles across women's Division I college basketball this season. Williams has one of them.
My list of Second and Third Team All-American candidates starts with Chiney Ogwumike, who could easily join her sister on the First Team. Likewise, if you only wanted to take one Duke player and you picked Chelsea Gray over Williams, you wouldn't get an argument from me. Odyssey Sims is Baylor's second-best player. When Brittany Griner's on your team, that's not a bad thing. Ohio State gives us a pair of choices in Tayler Hill and Samantha Prahalis. It's weird to not have anybody from UConn listed as one of the five best players in the nation, but that's the case this year. The Huskies' Tiffany Hayes will be on an All-American squad. It just won't be the First Team. Kelly Faris and Bria Hartley will also be in the discussion. Tennessee's best player? Shekinna Stricklen. Maryland's Alyssa Hawkins has had too good a year to ignore, too. You could easily make a case that Green Bay, not Delaware, is the nation's best mid-major team. Julie Wojta has led the Phoenix to a 25-1 mark so far. VCU's Courtney Hurt leads the nation in rebounding, which might get her some All-American votes.
As for National Player of the Year, there's no debate. Brittany Griner is as clear a selection as there can be. The only suspense left in Baylor's season is if they'll be undefeated National Champions. I wouldn't bet against it.
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