The top 20 players at midseason

The midseason ballot for the John R. Wooden award has been sitting on my desk, ready to be filled out, but naturally I waited until the last minute to choose my top 20 – but after a morning of perusing the latest stats (the Internet is a wonderful thing), here are my nominees.

Ambrosia Anderson, BYU (6-1 senior): The Cougars have flown under the radar (they only have one loss) and so has Anderson. It’s no surprise, since Anderson only started 11 games prior to this season (averaging 8.1 ppg and 4.5 rpg), but she has blown up in ’05-06. Her 19.4 ppg and 7.9 rpg come on 44% shooting, and if she, and BYU, keep up the pace, the 6-1 senior won’t be a surprise come WNBA draft day.

Seimone Augustus, LSU (6-1 senior): Ya think?

Tara Boothe, Xavier (6-1 senior): Another 6-1 senior, Boothe is an inside player who scores (20.8 ppg) and rebounds (8.2) for another pretty good team that doesn’t get a lot of national attention.

Monique Currie, Duke (6-0 senior): Another no-brainer.

Jessica Davenport, Ohio State (6-5 junior): The Buckeyes rely on this 6-5 force inside – and she got the gamewinner against Michigan State Sunday with just one second left.

Jessica Dickson, South Florida (5-11 junior): The nation’s leading scorer has upped her shooting percentage from 39 to 47, and cut her turnovers. She’s got a future in the W.

Megan Duffy, Notre Dame (5-7 senior): She’s steadily improved throughout her career, and is clearly the best point guard in the country. Her name will be called early in the draft.

Sylvia Fowles, LSU (6-5 sophomore): So good, so young. Fowles, just a sophomore, is a monster in the paint, and not only will be a WNBA star, but should be an Olympian as well.

Tasha Humphrey Georgia (6-3 sophomore): The prototypical women’s power forward, Humphrey can mix it up inside, or step back and hit a three. Just a sophomore, she too has an Olympic future.

Tamara James, Miami (5-10 senior): James is too small and doesn’t really have a position – so she just settles for playing basketball as best she can. Her 21.2 ppg and 8.2 rpg indicate she’s figured it out pretty well.

Crystal Langhorne, Maryland (6-3 sophomore): Langhorne, like Humphrey, is just what coaches look for on the block – and though she doesn’t shoot threes, it would be a very tough call to choose between these two sophomores.

Ivory Latta, North Carolina (5-6 junior): She plays the game with an infectious joy, and she also plays it really, really well. A junior, the tiny (5-6 is a serious stretch) point guard will only get better as her decision-making improves.

Courtney Paris, Oklahoma (6-4 freshman): Some doubted her coming out of high school, but she’s the best freshman in the country, and the only first-year player on my ballot. She rebounds, she scores and she competes like no one else. Another Olympian in the making.

Candace Parker, Tennessee (6-3 redshirt freshman): She doesn’t have great numbers, but that’s partially because the Volunteers have so much talent around her, and partially because she never gets to fatten up her stats on a low-cal schedule.

Cappie Pondexter, Rutgers (5-9 senior): The only question is whether she’ll be picked second or third overall in the WNBA draft.

Armintie Price, Mississippi (5-9 junior): Price gets 17.0 and 10.9 a game at just 5-9, but almost no one outside the SEC has ever heard of her. She shoots 47% from the field and has 73 steals, so she’s no mystery in the South.

Liz Shimek, Michigan State (6-1 senior): Shimek has played against some of the best in the country, and though she’s a bit undersized at 6-1, she’s very strong, and very skilled. She gets 18.9 and 8.7 a night, and rare for a forward, has more assists than turnovers.

Khara Smith, DePaul (6-2 senior): Averaging a double-double (18.5 and 10.9) will get you on a lot of all-America teams – and it doesn’t hurt that the Blue Demons are knocking on the door of the top ten.

Candice Wiggins, Stanford (5-11 sophomore): Wiggins was the Pac-10 Player of the Year as a freshman. She’s better this year.

Sophia Young, Baylor (6-1 senior): Another one of those players without a position, all Young did was lead the Bears to a national title last season. And she too is better this year.

I thought about: Kim Smith, Utah; Lindsay Shearer, Kent State; Emily Faurholt, Idaho; Erlana Larkins, North Carolina; Ann Strother, Uconn; Lisa Willis, UCLA; Crystal Kelly, Western Kentucky.