I think a more interesting perspective is to compare the play of Crystal to that of Slocum, the freshman guard for Maryland. Crystal was the top rated point guard in the country, as a HS senior. I don't know how high Slocum was rated, but she looked devastating in the UCONN game, and no one could shut her down. If you permit a divergence, Moriah shut down everyone. I do think Crystal will emerge as a star. We have seen flashes, including her 3 point range in the Baylor game. She already does many things well. She simply isn't taking over games quite yet.
Moriah shut down everyone
Not during her first 12 games, she didn't! And she had more defensive help behind her in Stewie and Tuck as shut-down players. Wait until next year with everyone back plus AZ and Touly protecting underneath.
[Crystal] simply isn't taking over games quite yet.
This was Slocum's "in the zone" game (huge moment playing before a sell-out home crowd), just like Baylor's was Crystal's (ditto moment, venue, and crowd). Nothing over the past several games indicated that Slocum would have that sort of night, though it's now easy to imagine that there will be many more in the future. But you could have said the same of Lou last year, that she wasn't taking over games yet. It wasn't her role then to do that, because there were other, more alpha, players. Ditto this year, and last night, for Crystal.
Over the next 4 years, there will be plenty of time to compare the two, but let's remember that Crystal plays under a very different coaching system and there are very different expectations of Crystal right now and throughout the next 4 years. Amazing as it seems, I actually believe that UConn 2017-2020 may be even more talented (at least the talent will run more deeply) than the years of the "big 3" and Crystal's role (as that of every player) will be subordinated accordingly.
The essential point is: UConn is built on a cohesive team concept and it wins or loses as a team. So, in the end, we ask one overriding question: what was the final score of the MD-UConn game?