Nika - Nation's leader in Assists

[nastynatty]

Nika has had a stellar start to the season. I think it often gets overlooked how good of a rebounding guard Nika is! Her ability to crash the boards really drives our transition game and she always immediately gets her eyes up and finds open teammates down the court. Nika the past two seasons has had an impact that didn't often show up in the box score. With her assist numbers this year, her impact is finally being fully appreciated (especially on a national level outside of the UConn fanbase). And to think how many more assists she could have had if not for some blown lay-ups. Anyone know what the UConn and NCAA record for most assists averaged in a season are and do we think Nika has a shot at breaking either?

NCAA College Women's Basketball DI current individual Stats | NCAA.com

Discover the current NCAA Division I Women's Basketball leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.

www.ncaa.com

Also the only player in D-1 currently averaging double digit assists!

 

[Beemer]

That's my girl!!!!

 

[EricLA]

Nika is well on her way to becoming my all time favorite PG at UCONN. I know we have had some absolutely sensational PG's come thru our program - especially Bird, but Nika has that toughness, edge, and attitude that very few Huskies have had before her (maybe Dee, Shea, not sure who else).

It's been great fun watching her the past 2+ years, and I'm excited to see where she leads us this season.

 

[Carnac]

Nika has had a stellar start to the season. I think it often gets overlooked how good of a rebounding guard Nika is! Her ability to crash the boards really drives our transition game and she always immediately gets her eyes up and finds open teammates down the court. Nika the past two seasons has had an impact that didn't often show up in the box score. With her assist numbers this year, her impact is finally being fully appreciated (especially on a national level outside of the UConn fanbase). And to think how many more assists she could have had if not for some blown lay-ups. Anyone know what the UConn and NCAA record for most assists averaged in a season are and do we think Nika has a shot at breaking either?

NCAA College Women's Basketball DI current individual Stats | NCAA.com

Discover the current NCAA Division I Women's Basketball leaders in every stats category, as well as historic leaders.

www.ncaa.com

Also the only player in D-1 currently averaging double digit assists!

The thing that’s so interesting about Nika’s sudden barrage of assists per game is she’s doing it so effortlessly within the flow of the game. I believe against NC St., she had 7 assists in the first quarter. SMH. She’s got the team record of 15 assists in a game. I wonder if she can make it 20 at some point during the season? I think she can.

Anyone know the single game record for assists in D1 WCBB?

 

[CocoHusky]

The thing that’s so interesting about Nika’s sudden barrage of assists per game is she’s doing it so effortlessly within the flow of the game. I believe against NC St., she had 7 assists in the first quarter. SMH. She’s got the team record of 15 assists in a game. I wonder if she can make it 20 at some point during the season? I think she can.

Anyone know the single game record for assists in D1 WCBB?

Single game 23—Michelle Burden, Kent St. vs. Ball St., Feb. 6, 1991
Season 367—Courtney Vandersloot, Gonzaga, 2011 (36 games, 10.2 per game)
Career 1,307—Suzie McConnell, Penn St., 1985-88 (128 games, 10.2 per game)

UCONN Single Game. 15 Nika
UCONN Season 231 Sue Bird (2001-02)
UCONN Career 659 Moriah Jefferson (2012-16)

 

[nastynatty]

Follow-up post with NCAA + UConn records

NCAA:
Single game record for assists = 23 (Michelle Burden, Kent St.)
Single season record for assists = 367 (Courtney Vandersloot, Gonzaga)
* Averaging 10.2 assist/per-game so Nika is on track to contend for this one
Single season record for assists per game = 11.8 (Suzie McConnell, Penn St.)

UConn:
Single game record for assists = already belongs to Nika (I also think she is bound to break her own record at some point this season)
Single season record for assists = 231 (Sue Bird)
* I can definitely see Nika breaking this one. Even if Sue's record is broken, the record will still be held by #10

 

[Carnac]

Follow-up post with NCAA + UConn records

NCAA:
Single game record for assists = 23 (Michelle Burden, Kent St.)
Single season record for assists = 367 (Courtney Vandersloot, Gonzaga)
* Averaging 10.2 assist/per-game so Nika is on track to contend for this one
Single season record for assists per game = 11.8 (Suzie McConnell, Penn St.)

UConn:
Single game record for assists = already belongs to Nika (I also think she is bound to break her own record at some point this season)
Single season record for assists = 231 (Sue Bird)
* I can definitely see Nika breaking this one. Even if Sue's record is broken, the record will still be held by #10

That single-game record has stood tall for 31 years. That one might be a bridge too far. But who knows, maybe one night against a team that’s challenged defensively, it could happen.

 

[BBallF]

What a transformation from last year! I love Caitlin Clark's plea in the huddle that Holly Rowe overheard to the effect that she had this girl stuck to her face and that she needed help out there referring to none other than the Croatian Sensation.

 

[Next 12]

There is no acclamation that Nika gets or awards she will win, that she doesn't deserve. Before Nika has finished her Uconn career she will be a player that comes along once in a decade. I believe Nika could score a lot more if she decided she wanted to score more. Geno has quoted Nika who said, "when a player scores alone, one player is happy, when a player assists a score, two players are happy. " Since I have been watching women's basketball, the only players ( in my opinion) that came close to Nika is Dangerfield and Kia Nurse. They were both exceptional in defense. They also scored ! But this post is for Nika and she will thrill us in many more games. GO HUSKIES!!!

 

[huskeynut]

Nika is a dynamo.

Love the Clark quote. That says it all.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Title of topic should be Nika Nations Leader in Assists "Per Game"

The nations leader in "total" assists is Terry Jeanae of Purdue, who has 58 assists. Nika has 54 assists.

 

[nastynatty]

Title of topic should be Nika Nations Leader in Assists "Per Game"

The nations leader in "total" assists is Terry Jeanae of Purdue, who has 58 assists. Nika has 54 assists.

True. Nika is SECOND in total assists in 2-4 less games than the leader & rest of the top assist-getters.

 

[fomalhaut]

Anyone have a guess at how many assists Nika would have if we weren't missing layups and wide open threes? The game she had 15, it could have been 20.

 

[nastynatty]

Anyone have a guess at how many assists Nika would have if we weren't missing layups and wide open threes? The game she had 15, it could have been 20.

At least 3 to 5 a game. Imagine…she could easily be averaging 15 assists a game.

 

[Skeets]

I am a huge Nika fan. It started the day she walked on campus. Many of her assists are a thing of beauty. But, let's face it, some of her assists are super easy, i.e. throw the ball to Azzi, assist! Throw the ball to Lou, assist! (I could get those assists )

The easy ones probably offset the missed layups. If it evens out, then that is as good as you can expect.

 

[donalddoowop]

Single game 23—Michelle Burden, Kent St. vs. Ball St., Feb. 6, 1991
Season 367—Courtney Vandersloot, Gonzaga, 2011 (36 games, 10.2 per game)
Career 1,307—Suzie McConnell, Penn St., 1985-88 (128 games, 10.2 per game)

UCONN Single Game. 15 Nika
UCONN Season 231 Sue Bird (2001-02)
UCONN Career 659 Moriah Jefferson (2012-16)

I know that when McConnell played assist were harder to get because of the rules and I believe the same is true about Burden. The rules for awarding assists back then were a lot different than they have been during the 2000s. Correct me Coco if I am wrong. If McConnell had played under the same rules of today, she would probably have many more than her record shows.

 

[Jackalope]

What a transformation from last year! I love Caitlin Clark's plea in the huddle that Holly Rowe overheard to the effect that she had this girl stuck to her face and that she needed help out there referring to none other than the Croatian Sensation.

One of the most complete and prolific scorers in current women's college basketball frustrated by Nika's defense.... that alone should earn Nika any and all Defensive Player of the Year accolades!

 

[meyers7]

There is no acclamation that Nika gets or awards she will win, that she doesn't deserve. Before Nika has finished her Uconn career she will be a player that comes along once in a decade. I believe Nika could score a lot more if she decided she wanted to score more. Geno has quoted Nika who said, "when a player scores alone, one player is happy, when a player assists a score, two players are happy. " Since I have been watching women's basketball, the only players ( in my opinion) that came close to Nika is Dangerfield and Kia Nurse. They were both exceptional in defense. They also scored ! But this post is for Nika and she will thrill us in many more games. GO HUSKIES!!!

Too bad you didn't get a chance to watch Jefferson.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Gotta love her. It started for me when she was still home playing ball and on Geno's radar.

 

[diggerfoot]

Two factors in a team’s offense affect how many assists a person will get. There is both an advantage and disadvantage with UConn’s offense for assist leaders.

The disadvantage is our offense is designed to spread the wealth. Thus two of our program assist leaders, Bird and Taurasi, coexisted for two years, and we often get high assist totals out of the high post.

This is offset by the advantage of our offense usually generating a high shooting percentage, and this year has been true to that form with the percentage often greater than fifty. There have been complaints about missed layups but, after almost 30 years on the Boneyard, I read that complaint being made for almost every game in every year. Missed layups happen in a game. Conversely, it’s a good thing we generate assists from 3 point shooting, not something to denigrate. Do you think Vandersloot would have as many assists without shooters like Quigley on the roster? The bottom line is to look at the overall shooting percentage.

 

[Iluvacc2]

Too bad you didn't get a chance to watch Jefferson.

This!

Jefferson was outstanding. Guarding the other team’s best perimeter player and shutting them down, then going on the other end setting up the team’s offense and knocking down threes.

 

[Littlemin]

There has never been a high assist player who didn’t play with people who could put the ball in the basket.……….obviously!
one other comment, it is the job of a playmaker to get the ball to shooters when they are open and in timely fashion so they are shooting in rythym; that is not nearly as easy as it sometimes looks.
and one last comment, losing assists because people miss shots or fumble a good pass, etc. is just part of the game.

 

[Waquoit]

Title of topic should be Nika Nations Leader in Assists "Per Game"

The nations leader in "total" assists is Terry Jeanae of Purdue, who has 58 assists. Nika has 54 assists.

Not necessary. It's assumed we're talking per game.

 

[BBallF]

One of the most complete and prolific scorers in current women's college basketball frustrated by Nika's defense.... that alone should earn Nika any and all Defensive Player of the Year accolades!

What a job she did on her. If you rewatch the fourth quarter you will see how Clark was worn down and Nika was like white on rice with her. She just wouldn't let her go. Clark is a great player and will be a mainstay on our national team after college for a long time. She is not a Sue Bird or a Lindsay Whelan at the point though but in international play she has been very effective. I really see her, Paige and Azzi on that team with Paige being the best playmaker and passer, and probably being covered by Nika when the US plays Croatia. Put that in your pipe.....

 

[stamfordhusky]

Anyone have a guess at how many assists Nika would have if we weren't missing layups and wide open threes? The game she had 15, it could have been 20.

But that is equally true for every point guard in the nation. More true for many of them.