Players that will impact the 2022 NCAA women's basketball championship picture

And no, not the ones you're thinking of

Welcome to View from the Top, a NCAA women’s basketball newsletter focused on the title contenders and championship picture. View from the Top covers the top teams in the country with an eye towards March all season long.

Throughout the season, I’ll be posting weekly(ish) newsletters highlighting the most important aspects of the race for the 2022 NCAA championship. This will include in-depth looks at the contending teams, breakdowns of the biggest regular season games, highlighting players that will be crucial to who wins it all, bracketology on the top few seed lines, hot takes (of course) and more. Subscribe to follow along all season here.

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We all know that Aliyah Boston’s dominance inside, Paige Bueckers’ return to the floor, Haley Jones’ versatility and Elissa Cunane’s post presence will be critical as their respective teams set their sites on a national title. But who else from each contender will be crucial to their team’s success?

Here’s a look at the players that could be the X-factor for each of the title contenders in March:

Zia Cooke (South Carolina)

It almost feels like a cop-out here to go with Cooke, as she’s probably the most mentioned Gamecock behind Boston. However, the evolution of Cooke’s game this season is too important to ignore when it comes to discussing who can put this Gamecocks team over the top in the post season.

South Carolina is at its best when Cooke is at her best. It’s not a coincidence that the recent stretch of games where the Gamecocks haven’t quite looked as good as they’re capable of coincides with a bit of a slump for Cooke. However, the Zia Cooke that we saw to start this season is one of the best guards in the country. Sure, I could point to her numbers in the Gamecocks’ Battle 4 Atlantis tournament run or her 20 points to lift them over Maryland, but the most striking improvements in her game this season have come in the intangibles. The basketball IQ she’s demonstrated on the floor, and drastic improvement in her decision making and shot selection take this team to the next level.

When Cooke is making all the right decisions when the ball is in her hands and Aaliyah Boston is dominating in the low post, South Carolina is very difficult to beat.

Hannah Jump (Stanford)

There’s two main areas I would point to that Stanford needs to focus on to reach their full potential this season. The first, is three-point shooting. The Cardinal has been good, but not great from beyond the arc so far. Returning most of their pieces from last year’s elite perimeter squad, they’re capable of shooting the ball from deep better than we’ve seen. The second area is, of course, cleaning up their turnovers.

Jump helps with both of these. With respect to taking care of the ball, Jump is averaging just 0.6 turnovers per game on the season and her turnover rate ranks within the top one percent of the nation. Stanford’s turnover rate is 3.1 percent lower when she’s on the floor than when she’s not. Additionally, while Jump hasn’t been the team’s most efficient shooter from deep (Lexie Hull currently has that title), she’s shooting over 40 percent from beyond the arc on the season and averaging nearly three made triples per game (nearly double Hull’s per game total). She’s also one of just ten players shooting over 40 percent from three-point range on seven or more attempts per game, making her one of the most dangerous perimeter threats in the country.

Caroline Ducharme (UConn)

There’s a lot of directions you could go with this answer for the Huskies, but ultimately what UConn needs most is a dependable option to score in crunch time. Of course, Bueckers is that player for the Huskies, but at least a section option needs to be available to close out big games - something UConn has struggled with this season.

While I think the jury is still out on who that player is, freshman Caroline Ducharme is emerging as a perhaps unexpected, but convincing candidate. Ducharme has been the best player on the floor in each of UConn’s last two games (their late December loss to Louisville and this weekend’s win over Creighton), and is making noticeable strides forward each game. It was Ducharme’s fourth quarter scoring effort against Louisville that allowed the Huskies to hang around before ultimately falling short when no help emerged. If Ducharme continues to play at the level she’s already reached, and also continues to steadily improve, she’ll be an excellent complement to Bueckers and one of the most important pieces as the Huskies chase down a title.

Diamond Johnson (NC State)

I don’t think you’ll find a sixth woman in the country better than Johnson. Despite coming in off the bench and averaging just 23 minutes per game, the Rutgers transfer is the Wolfpack’s second leading scorer. Johnson leads the team in usage rate, finishing over 27 percent of NC State’s possessions when on the floor.

Johnson is efficient on the perimeter, shooting 43.5 percent from deep on the season (which mind bogglingly only makes her the 4th best perimeter shooter on this Wolfpack team). She also contributes in virtually every area on the court, and is one of only five players in the country averaging at least 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in under 25 minutes per game. Having an option like Johnson off the bench means that this Wolfpack team doesn’t miss a beat when making lineup substitutions - which allows them to sustain their high level of play while still getting their stars adequate rest, even when playing the country’s best opponents. That will be a crucial element to NC State’s success in a long post season.

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Curious where these teams might fall in the NCAA tournament bracket when we reach March? Head on over to the Her Hoop Stats newsletter this afternoon for my take on the current top 16 seeds.

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