In basketball, an assist is a pass to a teammate that directly leads to a score by field goal. 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, it did not officially record assists until the 1984–85 season.2021–22 Division I Women's Basketball Records, p. 2

Suzie McConnell of Penn State holds the all-time D-I record for single-season assists per game (11.8), which she accomplished in 1986–87.2021–22 Division I Women's Basketball Records, p. 3 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. 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.

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.

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

Pos.GFCAPGRef.PositionGuardForwardCenterAssists per gameReferences Class (Cl.) keyFr FreshmanSo SophomoreJr JuniorSr Senior

* Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player had been theassists leader up to and including that season

Assists leaders

Schools are indicated with their current athletic brand names, which do not always match those used by a team in the relevant season. SeasonPlayerPos.Cl.TeamGamesplayedAssistsAPGRef.1984–85GLoyola Chicago273161985–86GPenn State323381986–87 (2)GPenn State303551987–88GAlabama State283181988–89 (2)GAlabama State293191989–90GPacific293211990–91GKent State292941991–92GLa Salle333201992–93GEast Carolina283001993–94GFIU292981994–95 (2)GFIU323151995–96GArizona302781996–97GMichigan State302291997–98GFIU312941998–99 (2)GFIU302651999–00GPenn State352742000–01GRutgers312572001–02GNorthwestern State292502002–03 (2)GNorthwestern State282982003–04 (3)GNorthwestern State262492004–05GWest Virginia342972005–06GIowa State282152006–07GSan Diego302302007–08GPortland State312742008–09GAuburn332622009–10GGonzaga34321 2010–11 (2)GGonzaga36367 2011–12 G Kansas34250 2012–13G Akron33259 2013–14G Southern Miss 34291 2014–15G Baylor 36322 2015–16 (2)G Baylor 37321 2016–17G Texas A&M 34304 2017–18G Syracuse313042018–19GSt. Francis Brooklyn312682019–20GOregon332992020–21 (2)GSyracuse20145 2021–22 G Iowa 32 257 2022–23 (2) G Iowa 38 327 2023–24 (3) G Iowa 39 346 2024–25 G Kansas State 36 262 2025–26 G Northwestern 29 245

Multiple-time leaders RankPlayerTeamTimes leaderYears1Caitlin ClarkIowa32021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24La’Terrica DobinNorthwestern State 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–043Alabama State21987–88, 1988–89Dalma IványiFIU1997–98, 1998–99Baylor 2014–15, 2015–16Tiana MangakahiaSyracuse2017–18, 2020–21Suzie McConnell Penn State1985–86, 1986–87Andrea NagyFIU1993–94, 1994–95Courtney VanderslootGonzaga2009–10, 2010–11

Footnotes

References General

Specific