When asked how it felt to join the Stanford women’s basketball team and immediately play an integral part in the No. 9 Cardinal’s success, freshman JJ Hones could only find a few words and a quick smile.

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Sammy Abusrur

Freshman guard JJ Hones leads the Cardinal women’s basketball team with 80 assists. The Oregon-native has started 16 games this season.

“It was definitely a surprise,” the 5-foot-10 guard said.

But don’t let her modesty fool you. Hones’ achievements on the court leave little room for surprise.

Leading the team with 4.2 assists per game — good enough to elevate her assist-turnover ratio to second in the Pacific-10 Conference at 2.96 — Hones has brought a sharp ability to distribute to Stanford’s backcourt. But the unselfish roots of the Oregon native were established long before her arrival to the Farm.

“As a point guard, I don’t think individual awards really matter much to me,” Hones said. “But being able to lead my [high school] team to [two consecutive] state championships with the other great players that we had was definitely my most memorable and rewarding accomplishment.”

Hones provides the Stanford offense with more than steady support. In the Cardinal’s trip to Washington, she posted 10 points and three assists. She was one of four Stanford players to hit double digits in scoring. Two days later against Washington State, she returned to lead the team with 17 points and four assists.

She attributes this shift in better personal play to a greater level of confidence in her team role as the season progressed.

“At the beginning of the year, I was more focused on making the right pass and making sure the offense was set up,” Hones recalled. “Not that I’m taking away from that, but now I’m being more aggressive and actually attacking the basket and trying to do more for the team.”

Part of that confidence comes in practice, where the Stanford players challenge each other with a high level of competition. Hones recognizes that much of her development this season is a result of playing side by side with 2006 Pac-10 Player of the Year, junior guard Candice Wiggins.

“I’ve learned to be more aggressive because Candice is such a great player,” Hones said. “It’s a really great experience to be able to watch her play everyday in practice. I just try to see what she does and put it into my game.”

Hones similarly takes note of the wisdom of head coach Tara VanDerveer.

“A lot of the time, I [take away] more from the negative things [VanDerveer] says,” Hones said. “She’ll say, ‘It’s not high school anymore,’ or [tell me that] I can’t be making stupid passes. When someone says something negative to you, you let it brush off. If it’s a learning tip, though, you just take it for what it is and don’t get too upset about it. You realize that they’re just trying to help you; they’re not asking you to do anything you can’t do.”

Apparently, VanDerveer hasn’t asked too much. Although Hones hadn’t anticipated that she would average nearly 25 minutes per game so early in her Stanford career, she has taken it in stride, appreciating every second out on the floor.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to come in and make contributions because they had a great point guard in [sophomore guard Rosalyn Gold-Onwude], and unfortunately she tore her ACL in the off-season,” Hones said. “I knew Mel [freshman guard Melanie Murphy] or I had to step up, and I think we’ve both done a really good job. It’s been a very cool experience that I wasn’t expecting at all.”

But, now that she’s here, Hones and the rest of the team are focused on the cohesiveness, shared offensive responsibilities and defensive dominance that have established the Cardinal atop the Pac-10 and as a national power.

As for the future, Hones is ready to reaffirm her team mentality by achieving the squad’s collective goal.

“A national championship,” she said.