List of NCAA Division I women's basketball season assists leaders

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In basketball, an assist is a pass to a teammate that directly leads to a score by field goal.[1] The National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I (D-I) assist title is awarded to the player with the highest assists per game average in a given season. While the NCAA began sponsoring women's sports in the 1981–82 season, well after the NCAA established its current three-division alignment for competitive and governance purposes,[2] it did not officially record assists until the 1984–85 season.[3]

Suzie McConnell of Penn State holds the all-time D-I record for single-season assists per game (11.8), which she accomplished in 1986–87.[4] She also recorded 355 assists that season, which is the second-highest single-season mark behind Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot, who recorded 367 in 2010–11 while playing 6 more games than McConnell did in 1986–87.[4] The first woman to lead D-I in scoring and assists in the same season was Caitlin Clark for Iowa in 2021–22; she also led in both categories in 2023–24.[5]

Nine players have earned multiple assist titles. La’Terrica Dobin of Northwestern State and Clark are the only ones to have earned three titles, respectively doing so from 2002–2004 and 2022–2024. Six others have earned the honor in consecutive seasons: McConnell (1986, 1987), Neacole Hall of Alabama State (1988, 1989), Andrea Nagy of FIU (1994, 1995), Dalma Iványi of FIU (1998, 1999), Vandersloot (2010, 2011), and Niya Johnson of Baylor (2015, 2016). The other player with two assists titles is Tiana Mangakahia of Syracuse, who won titles in 2017 and 2021, the latter after returning from breast cancer treatment.[6]

Only two freshmen (Tine Freil and Michelle Burden) and five sophomores (McConnell, Dobin, Claire Faucher, Mangakahia, and Clark) have led Division I in average assists. Four players born outside the United States have led Division I in assists — Freil, born in Denmark; Nagy and Iványi, both born in Hungary; and Mangakahia, born in Australia.

Key[edit]

Assists leaders[edit]

Caitlin Clark is the only woman to lead D-I in both points and assists, doing so in 2021–22 and 2023–24.

Schools are indicated with their current athletic brand names, which do not always match those used by a team in the relevant season.

Season Player Pos. Cl. Team Games
played 		Assists APG Ref.[a]
1984–85 Faith Mimnaugh G Sr Loyola Chicago 27 316 11.7
1985–86 Suzie McConnell G So Penn State 32 338 10.56
1986–87 Suzie McConnell (2) G Jr Penn State 30 355 11.83
1987–88 Neacole Hall G Jr Alabama State 28 318 11.36
1988–89 Neacole Hall (2) G Sr Alabama State 29 319 11
1989–90 Tine Freil G Fr Pacific 29 321 11.07
1990–91 Michelle Burden G Fr Kent State 29 294 10.14
1991–92 Mimi Harris G Sr La Salle 31 320 10.32
1992–93 Gaynor O'Donnell G Sr East Carolina 28 300 10.71
1993–94 Andrea Nagy G Jr FIU 29 298 10.28
1994–95 Andrea Nagy (2) G Sr FIU 32 315 9.84
1995–96 Brenda Pantoja G Sr Arizona 30 278 9.27
1996–97 Tamika Matlock G Sr Michigan State 30 229 7.63
1997–98 Dalma Iványi G Jr FIU 31 294 9.48
1998–99 Dalma Iványi (2) G Sr FIU 30 265 8.83
1999–00 Helen Darling G Sr Penn State 35 274 7.83
2000–01 Tasha Pointer G Sr Rutgers 31 257 8.29
2001–02 La’Terrica Dobin G So Northwestern State 29 250 8.62
2002–03 La’Terrica Dobin (2) G Jr Northwestern State 28 296 10.57
2003–04 La’Terrica Dobin (3) G Sr Northwestern State 26 249 9.58
2004–05 Yolanda Paige G Sr West Virginia 34 297 8.74
2005–06 Lyndsey Medders G Jr Iowa State 28 215 7.68
2006–07 Amanda Rego G Jr San Diego 30 230 7.67
2007–08 Claire Faucher G So Portland State 31 274 8.84
2008–09 Whitney Boddie G Sr Auburn 33 262 7.94
2009–10 Courtney Vandersloot G Jr Gonzaga 34 321 9.44
2010–11 Courtney Vandersloot (2) G Sr Gonzaga 36 367 10.19
2011–12 Angel Goodrich G Jr Kansas 34 250 7.35
2012–13 Kacie Cassell G Jr Akron 33 259 7.85
2013–14 Jamierra Faulkner G Sr Southern Miss 34 291 8.56
2014–15 Niya Johnson G Jr Baylor 36 322 8.94
2015–16 Niya Johnson (2) G Sr Baylor 37 321 8.68
2016–17 Cutyce Knox G Sr Texas A&M 37 321 8.68
2017–18 Tiana Mangakahia G So Syracuse 31 304 9.81
2018–19 Amy O'Neill G Sr St. Francis Brooklyn 34 304 8.94
2019–20 Sabrina Ionescu G Sr Oregon 33 299 9.06
2020–21[b] Tiana Mangakahia (2) G Sr Syracuse 20 145 7.25
2021–22 Caitlin Clark G So Iowa 32 257 8.03  [7]
2022–23 Caitlin Clark (2) G Jr Iowa 38 327 8.61  [8]
2023–24 Caitlin Clark (3) G Sr Iowa 39 346 8.87  [9]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Except as noted, reference is to the list of single-season leaders on page 25 of the primary reference, the NCAA's 2021–22 Division Women's Basketball Records book.
  2. ^ Due to COVID-19 disruptions, the NCAA ruled that players would be eligible for season leaderboards if they played in at least 13 games that season, the same number required for a team to be considered for that season's NCAA rournament.[3]

References[edit]

General
  • "2021–22 Division I Women's Basketball Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
Specific
  1. ^ "Basketball glossary". FIBA.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
  2. ^ "History of the NCAA". NCAA.org. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Archived from the original on September 24, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  3. ^ a b 2021–22 Division I Women's Basketball Records, p. 2
  4. ^ a b 2021–22 Division I Women's Basketball Records, p. 3
  5. ^ "#22 – Caitlin Clark". 2022–23 Women's Basketball Roster. Iowa Hawkeyes. Retrieved September 1, 2022.
  6. ^ Voepel, M.A. (October 2, 2020). "Tiana Mangakahia gets waiver to return to Syracuse this season". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  7. ^ "2021-22 Women's College Basketball Leaders". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  8. ^ "2022-23 Women's College Basketball Leaders". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  9. ^ "2023-24 Women's College Basketball Leaders". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
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