But both did it with their own distinct styles. Douglas took her complete repertoire of skills and punished Purdue's every opponent. She slashed to the basket, shot from almost every position on the floor and made stealthy passes to open teammates. Darling's presence on the statistics sheet couldn't quite compare to that of Douglas. As many coaches said all year, including Penn State's Rene Portland and Illinois' Theresa Grentz, there are no columns denoting leadership and experience.
Darling possesses a wealth of both qualities, which are the backbone of a successful point guard.
She also displayed the ability to perform under pressure, as seen when she calmly drained foul shots and 3-pointers to ignite the Lions. I think I did a good job of playing well in the tournament. And I think our team needed me to step up and score a little bit more. The top team honor went to Purdue, but the argument concerning the conference's best player was still unsettled. Purdue coach Kristy Curry was asked if Darling's honor was an injustice to the dominant Douglas, but the thrill of the Boilers' unified effort was clearly the option Curry preferred.