Women's College Basketball Player of the Year Rankings: Who are the top players by Win Shares?

Over the past few weeks, the Player of the Year rankings have been getting a lot of feedback, and it's been fun to engage in conversation with folks about these players. There are a lot of different dynamics at play when you are comparing players. Do you solely look at hard stats or team performance? Does the country's player of the year have to be from a top-ranked school?

A lot of the deep stats I dive into are from the Her Hoop Stats network. It's a tool that examines these players' statistics in a lot of really different ways, helping you to see how they are playing from various perspectives. One interesting thing about this method is that the top players in the country are ranked by win shares as opposed to points per game or other metrics. Win shares can be explained simply: it's a formula that estimates how many wins a player has produced for their team based on both their offensive and defensive stats.

Now, let's take a look at the top 5 women's basketball players in the country, solely based on win shares:

1. Juju Watkins: Southern California - 4.1 Win Shares

No. 4 USC is currently 14-1 in their overall season and 4-0 in Big 10 Conference play. Watkins herself plays 33.1 minutes per game (which is in the 95th percentile across the country) and is averaging 25.1 points per game (100th percentile in the country). On the defensive end, she averages 2.5 steals per game and only allows 66.6 points per 100 possessions where she is the sole defender. This all comes together to show that she provides her team the most wins nationwide at 4.1.

2. Aneesah Morrow: LSU - 4.0 Win Share

No. 6 LSU is currently 17-0 on the season and 2-0 in SEC conference play. Aneesah Morrow plays 31.8 minutes per game, averaging 18.1 points per game and 14 total rebounds per game (100th percentile). Defensively she averages 2.6 steals per game and a defensive rating of 67.7 for the Tigers. She comes in just below Watkins at 4.0.

3. Khamil Pierre: Vanderbilt - 3.8 Win Shares

Vanderbilt's Khamil Pierre has been playing phenomenally well on a team that has spent the season just on the edge of the top-25 rankings, with a 14-2 record total and 1-1 in SEC play. She averages 28.4 minutes per game, scoring 22.8 points per game. Defensively she averages 3.5 steals per game (100th percentile). Her defensive rating is 69.3 points per 100 possessions. A player that may not be in discussions because Vanderbilt has yet to be ranked this season, Pierre's 3.8 Win Shares are obviously a point for her in these talks.

4. Hannah Hidalgo: Notre Dame - 3.6 Win Shares

No. 3 Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo is turning it up this season. She averages 35.9 minutes and scores 25.9 points per game. Notre Dame currently sits at 11-2 on their season, and 3-0 in the ACC so far. She leads the country in steals at 4.0, but her defensive rating is higher than others (lower numbers are best in this category) at 75.7. That mixed with the fact that her team has more losses than the teams of players ranked higher may be why she is lower. Hidalgo comes in fourth in the country at 3.6 in Win Shares.

5. Paige Bueckers: UConn - 3.5 Win Shares

The presumed No.1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft leads her No. 7 UConn Huskies, currently at 14-2 on the season and 4-0 in Big East conference play. Bueckers plays 29.7 minutes per game, lower than her companions on this list, averaging 19.9 points per game. She also averages 2.1 steals per game and 4.0 assists per game. She has a defensive rating of 76.3 and comes in at 3.5 in Win Shares. Notably, her teammate Sarah Strong is right behind her at No. 6, meaning she has a formidable co-leader as the Huskies continue their season, taking some of the pressure off Bueckers.