Women’s basketball player reviews: Caroline Lau

How did the Big Ten assists per game leader perform this season?

Next up in Inside NU’s series of women’s basketball player reviews is point guard Caroline Lau, who just finished her junior season with Northwestern.

The Good

Let’s start with the obvious: Lau’s biggest strength is her passing. During the 2024-25 season, she averaged a career-high 6.0 assists per game, which ranked tenth nationally and led the Big Ten. There were games where she’d post even more ridiculous stats than her averages show, like her 12-assist performances against Cornell and Lehigh and her 10 assists versus No. 21 Maryland. Her assist numbers were a big reason why she earned an honorable mention All-Big Ten from the media.

Perhaps even more impressive was that despite her assist numbers going up, Lau’s turnover rate went down, from 3.8 per game last season to 2.8 this season, indicating an improvement in her ball-handling. Turnovers were one of the weaknesses listed in Lau’s player review piece at the end of last season, so it’s clear that she worked on bettering that part of her game.

Lau liked to push the pace and could find her teammates no matter where she was. Oftentimes, she’d launch passes from beyond half court, sometimes to the point where they were too ambitious, but they’d turn into baskets most of the time. If Northwestern wanted to build momentum for quick transition points, Lau was the person to go to.

Another big jump that Lau made this past season was in her rebounding, improving from an average of 4.2 to 4.7 rebounds per game. Despite being a 5’9 guard, she ranked second on Northwestern in rebounds, just behind 6’3 forward Taylor Williams. She even had a rare assist/rebound double-double when she recorded 11 of the latter against the Terrapins, and caught a career-high 12 rebounds in a win against DePaul.

The Bad

Remember that double-double game against Maryland? Despite getting in double figures for assists and rebounds, Lau only scored two free-throw points with two field-goal attempts. That’s a stat line representative of her glaring issue all season — disappearing as a scorer despite doing everything else.

Lau’s 4.9 points per game are the lowest average of her career (even considering that she only started three games during her freshman season), and the lowest average out of anyone on Northwestern who started more than one game. She also has the lowest number of field goal attempts (167) out of the Wildcats in that category. And when she did shoot, she shot at a 28.1% clip (25.5% from three), with 46.1% of her shots coming from beyond the arc. To put it bluntly, that type of efficiency alongside low scoring is far from ideal for a starting point guard on a team that ranked last in the Big Ten for total three-pointers made.

In addition, Lau is not very consistent, both on a large and small scale. There’d be times where she’d hit huge threes to change the momentum of an entire game, but then she’d go cold and disappear afterward. She’d also have games where she would go into double figures (her season-high was 15 points in a loss to Washington) and then get held scoreless or nearly scoreless in the game afterward.

Lau can be the type of player who can score and score efficiently — she shot above 50% in three of her four double-figure scoring performances this season. However, she also had five or fewer assists in three of those games. There’s nothing wrong with embracing a role as a pass-first point guard, but it would be helpful for Lau to get her scoring up even just a little, given how much her team desperately needs it from the guards.

The Bottom Line

Alongside rising junior guard Casey Harter and sophomore forward Grace Sullivan, Lau will be one of three returning starters for Northwestern next season. Lau has displayed leadership throughout her career, having been named a team captain as early as her sophomore season, but her role as both a floor general and a senior during the 2025-26 season will take her captain status to the next level.

Lau’s prowess as a facilitator alone is enough to keep her a starter, but it would go a long way if she could convert a few more shots she attempts every game. Not only would it help Northwestern, but it could also help her raise her profile nationally, given how she’s already amongst the best of the best with her assist numbers.