The All Time Women's College Basketball Starting 5

[BBallF]

By posiition: Point Guard- Sue Bird. Shooting Guard (Two Guard)- Diana Taurasi. Small Forward(3)- Cheryl Miller. Power Forward- Breanna Stewart. Center- Brittany Griner. Who would you put on the Second Team?

 

[JordyG]

Well, in my mind it pretty much comes down to Miller or Maya at the SF on the first team.

 

[Viet Vet]

Tamika Catchings, Maya Moore, Cynthia Fowles, Lisa Leslie, Sabrina Ionescu.

 

[JordyG]

Tamika Catchings, Maya Moore, Cynthia Fowles, Lisa Leslie, Sabrina Ionescu.

Sabrina will have to prove as a pro she's better than Becky Hammon. Plus, those who can't see Candice Parker on the second team are just wrong.

 

[garddog]

Sabrina will have to prove as a pro she's better than Becky Hammon. Plus, those who can't see Candice Parker on the second team are just wrong.

The original post said college, not pro or lifetime. Collegiately, you have to put Latoya Thomas on at least the second team. 4x Kodak All American, 2 time SEC POY, and that was during the Vols heyday.

 

[Mdoggie]

I’m putting Lynsey Whalen on second team. I just like her killer attitude on the court.

 

[bballnut90]

The original post said college, not pro or lifetime. Collegiately, you have to put Latoya Thomas on at least the second team. 4x Kodak All American, 2 time SEC POY, and that was during the Vols heyday.

Good player but not even close to being on one of the top 4-5 teams.

 

[Kurebeach5]

Taurasi, Stewie, C.Miller, C.Parker, Lisa Leslie

 

[bballnut90]

By posiition: Point Guard- Sue Bird. Shooting Guard (Two Guard)- Diana Taurasi. Small Forward(3)- Cheryl Miller. Power Forward- Breanna Stewart. Center- Brittany Griner. Who would you put on the Second Team?

A bit of a stretch with positions but I'd choose:
PG-Taurasi
SG-Moore
SF-Holdsclaw
PF-Parker
C-Stewart

Stellar size and rebounding ability 2-5. Everyone has handles and can pass. UCONN girls can all shoot from deep, Holdsclaw is one of the best creators and midrange shooters ever, Parker was dominant on the block in college.

2nd Team:
Jefferson
Ionescu
Augustus
Catchings
Griner

Collegiately I think Jefferson was a superior player than Bird. Especially if you factor in her defensive ability. Ionescu is insanely talented and Augustus was a 2x POY with an incredible midrange game and great athleticism. Catchings was so good on both ends. Griner the defensive stalwart and could dominate offensively.


Havent seen enough of Swoopes/Miller/anyone else before mid 90s to include them on one of the teams or supplant someone else on there. They'd likely earn spots on the first or 2nd team though.

 

[domerduck]

The WBCA names the 5 position awards after a pretty good team:
1. Nancy Lieberman-Point Guard
2. Ann Meyers Drysdale-Shooting Guard
3. Cheryl Miller Small Forward
4. Katrina McClain Power Forward
5. Lisa Leslie Center

For me Lieberman's stats were the closest to Sabrina's as she was the ultimate all around PG. I put Sabrina 1st team and Nancy second team. Bird for me would be 3rd team, but all 3 are close.
Shooting guard, DT is 1st team, Augustus 2nd team
Small Forward: Miller 1st team, Moore 2nd team Parker 3rd team
Power Forward: Stewie 1st team, Catchings 2nd team
Center: Leslie 1st team, Griner 2nd team

 

[CocoHusky]

By posiition: Point Guard- Sue Bird. Shooting Guard (Two Guard)- Diana Taurasi. Small Forward(3)- Cheryl Miller. Power Forward- Breanna Stewart. Center- Brittany Griner. Who would you put on the Second Team?

2nd Team: Lindsay Whalen PG, Cherly Swoopes SG, Maya Moore SF, Candace Parker PF, Lisa Leslie C
3rd Team Ann Meyers PG, Cynthia Cooper SG, Tamika Catchings SF Chamique Holdsclaw PF Sylvia Fowles C.
4th Team Nancy Lieberman PG, Nykesha Sales SG, Simone Agustus SF, Tina Thompson PF, Tina Charles C
5th Team. Moriah Jefferson PG Sabrina Ionescu SG EDD SF, Katrina McClain PF, Anne Donavon C

 

[domerduck]

A bit of a stretch with positions but I'd choose:
PG-Taurasi
SG-Moore
SF-Holdsclaw
PF-Parker
C-Stewart

Stellar size and rebounding ability 2-5. Everyone has handles and can pass. UCONN girls can all shoot from deep, Holdsclaw is one of the best creators and midrange shooters ever, Parker was dominant on the block in college.

2nd Team:
Jefferson
Ionescu
Augustus
Catchings
Griner

Collegiately I think Jefferson was a superior player than Bird. Especially if you factor in her defensive ability. Ionescu is insanely talented and Augustus was a 2x POY with an incredible midrange game and great athleticism. Catchings was so good on both ends. Griner the defensive stalwart and could dominate offensively.


Havent seen enough of Swoopes/Miller/anyone else before mid 90s to include them on one of the teams or supplant someone else on there. They'd likely earn spots on the first or 2nd team though.

You must have never seen Cheryl Miller play to not have her in the top 10. Holdsclaw is a good add, but she'd be 3rd team for me along with Parker behind my 10. All your picks are very good, but Miller is among the best and her stats and overall game showed. I also can't put Jefferson ahead of Bird though I understand your thinking. Try to find some old footage of Lieberman and you will also be impressed.

 

[Zanzman]

2nd Team: Lindsay Whalen PG, Cherly Swoopes SG, Maya Moore SF, Candace Parker PF, Lisa Leslie C
3rd Team Ann Meyers PG, Cynthia Cooper SG, Tamika Catchings SF Chamique Holdsclaw PF Lauren Jackson C.

Jackson didn’t play college ball here

 

[domerduck]

Jackson didn’t play college ball here

I don't think she played college ball anywhere though she went to school while a pro (both in Moscow & Australia). She would have been a helluva college player if she had played. Her mother was one of the 1st Australians to play college as she played for LSU in the 80's.

 

[bballnut90]

You must have never seen Cheryl Miller play to not have her in the top 10. Holdsclaw is a good add, but she'd be 3rd team for me along with Parker behind my 10. All your picks are very good, but Miller is among the best and her stats and overall game showed. I also can't put Jefferson ahead of Bird though I understand your thinking. Try to find some old footage of Lieberman and you will also be impressed.

Parker was mostly a PF and Catchings was a SF at Tennessee. Holdsclaw was definitely the best Tennessee player and rivals anyone for best collegiate player ever. For all Parker could do, I thought Holdsclaw was every bit as good offensively with a better midrange game and handles.

Miller I've seen in her 3 80s title games. She obviously was excellent and far ahead of her time. Incredible athlete, good midrange and statistically she obliterated the record books. The game was so different back then though. Much slower, everyone packed inside and there werent perimeter shots. Wouldve loved to see her play in the 3pt era. Cant rank her ahead of Moore/Holdsclaw/Stewart based on that limited footage. Had she played in a more modern era, she still may have cemented herself as the best ever. Everyone universally spoke of her as the standout of the 80s.

Swoopes I've only seen play in the 93 Final Four games where she was absolutely ridiculous. Again, I've only seen 2 of her collegiate games though and I know the title game is one of her best performances ever. Aside from that, I only have 30 year old stats to go off of. Cant rank her accurately based on that IMO.

Lieberman I havent seen footage aside from her laughable stint as a 50+ aged woman suiting up for the Shock. I don't doubt she was amazing in her time but WCBB was in its infancy back then and just a completely different game 40-45 years ago. It wasnt even an NCAA sanctioned sport yet. So again, I dont doubt she was great, but it feels like a weird comparing her to someone like Ionescu when the game is completely different now.

 

[Golden Husky]

2nd Team: Lindsay Whalen PG, Cherly Swoopes SG, Maya Moore SF, Candace Parker PF, Lisa Leslie C
3rd Team Ann Meyers PG, Cynthia Cooper SG, Tamika Catchings SF Chamique Holdsclaw PF Sylvia Fowles C.
4th Team Nancy Lieberman PG, Nykesha Sales SG, Simone Agustus SF, Tina Thompson PF, Tina Charles C
5th Team. Moriah Jefferson PG Sabrina Ionescu SG EDD SF, Katrina McClain PF, Anne Donavon C

You know, I'm thinking, if he had to, I bet @CocoHusky could go a dozen or more teams deep.

 

[cbraarj]

Cheryl Miller was before her time. Just like the Big O was.

 

[ucbart]

How is Maya still this underrated?

She was the runner up to Parker as National POY as a FRESHMAN. She was then named National POY in some capacity in each of her last 3 seasons, won 2 NC and is the all time leading scorer and second in career rebounds at UCONN, the greatest program the game has ever seen.

 

[mudcat]

By posiition: Point Guard- Sue Bird. Shooting Guard (Two Guard)- Diana Taurasi. Small Forward(3)- Cheryl Miller. Power Forward- Breanna Stewart. Center- Brittany Griner. Who would you put on the Second Team?

Too much recency effect: Small Forwards, Lynette Woodard or Cheryl Miller; Power Forward, Brianna Stewart; Center, Luisa Harris or Brittany Griner; Guard (this one is difficult), Diana Taurasi, Jackie Stiles, Sue Bird

 

[bballnut90]

How is Maya still this underrated?

She was the runner up to Parker as National POY as a FRESHMAN. She was then named National POY in some capacity in each of her last 3 seasons, won 2 NC and is the all time leading scorer and second in career rebounds at UCONN, the greatest program the game has ever seen.

Yeah, I dont get how anyone leaves her off 1st team in some position. No one else has ever come close to finishing top 2 in POY voting all 4 years. Maya went 150-4 in college and was a standout all 4 years.

 

[bballnut90]

This thread has some badly butchered names/spellings lol

 

[Zanzman]

Where does Teresa Edwards belong in your mind coco

 

[Lorcan]

How is Maya still this underrated?

She was the runner up to Parker as National POY as a FRESHMAN. She was then named National POY in some capacity in each of her last 3 seasons, won 2 NC and is the all time leading scorer and second in career rebounds at UCONN, the greatest program the game has ever seen.

Err. I think you have the facts wrong. In 2008, the player of the year awards were split between Candace Parker and Candice Wiggins. Ice beat Ace to the Wade Player of the Year Trophy. The Naismith, Wooden, and the AP Player of the Year went to Ace. Maya was runner up for the Wooden Award, but not the others AFAIK. Maya may be great, but she didn't win the AP POY in 2010, as that went to Tina Charles -- so there's some dispute as to whether she was the POY every year since 2008. If you're specifying a particular award, great.

UConn fans often throw out the team results as an indicator of an individual players superiority. I think that's fantastic, but a team with some combination of Maya Moore, Tina Charles, Tiffany Hayes, and Kelly Faris, Stefanie Dolson, and Bria Hartley should win a majority of their games. While I do evaluate what a team has done, how do you judge what Candice Wiggins did at Stanford during the tournament dropping 40+ points on multiple teams? I believe she remains the only player to do so in NCAA History.

 

[bluedevil]

This thread has some badly butchered names/spellings lol

Glad I spelled Sue Byrd the write way...

 

[CocoHusky]

Where does Teresa Edwards belong in your mind coco

That is a good one. Often overlooked. She is right up there with Thompson and McClain. Here and Sophia Young might cause me to revise my list.