Women’s College Basketball’s Most Valuable Players, Thus Far
The 2022–2023 women’s college basketball season is well under way. As of December 15th, there are seven undefeated teams in the AP Top 25. With the calendar year wrapping up, I thought it would be a good time to check the data and see which players are most affecting winning. There are many ways to go about this, but a simple plot of player win shares versus player efficiency rating can give us a good idea of which players are standing out from the pack.
Win shares attempts to divide up credit for wins; the players with the highest win share numbers generally most affect winning for their teams. Some players may increasingly affect winning either on the offensive-end or defensive-end, but I will look at combined win share metrics. Player efficiency rating estimates the per-minute value of a player, based on the production they have in their respective playing time. The dataset pulled is from HerHoopStats as of December 15th, for Power 5 conferences plus the Big East; it is filtered to players averaging at least ten minutes per game.
Angel Reese — LSU
She was a prolific offensive rebounder at Maryland and is doing the same at LSU. Reese leads the nation in overall win shares; she also ranks first overall in offensive and defensive win shares. Reese also ranks amongst the best overall in free throws attempted per game.
Elizabeth Kitley — Virginia Tech
While Angel Reese is the best offensive rebounder in the nation, Kitley is the best defensive rebounder. She is second in defensive win shares, is top ten in defensive rating, and top five in overall win shares. Her great positioning and quick hands on defense are shining.
Maddy Siegrist — Villanova
The reigning Big East Player of the Year is back at it this season. Her usage rate has increased, tied for third overall with Caitlin Clark. Most impressive is an increase in effective field goal percentage from 54.4% to 58.6%, even with the increase in workload. Her versatility offensively is a thing of beauty.
Emily Kiser — Michigan
Ranks top six in overall and offensive win shares. She provides whatever is needed on a given night and is a leader on-court. Love that she gets to the free throw line with frequency. Like others on this list, impressively shooting better than in previous years, even with increases in usage.
Olivia Miles — Notre Dame
Averaging four fewer minutes per game this season, Miles has impressively increased her per-minute scoring, assisting, and rebounding output. At 10.1 assists per forty minutes, Miles is amongst the best passers in the country. She has also more than doubled the amount of free throws she makes per forty minutes.
Stephanie Soares — Iowa State
An outstanding big from Brazil, Soares is soaring higher with every game this year. She is second in the country in blocks per game and is top ten in player efficiency rating. Soares plays with fantastic poise on both ends, and is efficient in her time on-court.
Mackenzie Holmes — Indiana
With Grace Berger nursing a knee injury, Holmes is leading the Hoosiers in their currently undefeated season. Third in the nation in two point field goals made per game, she is efficient on the low block with a variety of finishes. She ranks highly in player efficiency and her effective shooting percentages have increased every year, now sitting at a strong 69.3%.
