As far as Whitney Boddie is concerned, her job as Auburn’s point guard — in terms of degree of difficulty — ranks right up there with button-pushers and door-holders.

“I just pass them the ball,” Boddie said. “They score it.”

It’s not that simple, of course, but Boddie has made it look seemingly effortless throughout her four-year career.

Now coaches and fans outside the SEC might finally start noticing.

After her 12-point, 12-assist, zero-turnover effort Sunday at Alabama, Boddie jumped to

No. 1 in the nation in assists per game, as she now averages 8.3 per contest.

Her response to the achievement may have been of the ho-hum variety because “Whitney doesn’t care about that,” coach Nell Fortner said. “She just wants to win ballgames.”

But without Boddie in the lineup and racking up those big numbers, it’d be tough to expect that No. 5 Auburn would be sitting at 23-1 (8-1 SEC) heading into today’s home game against Kentucky (13-11, 3-6).

“That’s one competitive kid right there,” Fortner said. “That’s just another something that goes along with the territory when you keep winning, and I think it’s something she’s very proud of.”

Raised expectations of her from Fortner is another thing that’s come with the territory for Boddie.

Fortner said she’s been harping on Boddie to become a better “game manager.”

That entails more than just what shows up on a box score. As the team’s quarterback of sorts at point guard, Boddie needs to know when to push the tempo, when to hold back, when to thread a pass in a tight spot or when to do nothing at all.

“I think we have all seen her progress in that as the year has gone along,” Fortner said. “As good a player as Whitney is, she will try to thread the needle a lot and there were a lot of turnovers that were unnecessary.”

Boddie had a mid-season swoon — for her standards at least — during a three-game stretch in which the Tigers picked up their first loss of the season at Georgia and skirted by inferior foes LSU and Ole Miss. During that stretch, Boddie committed 10 turnovers, as the Auburn offense lacked
its usual flow.

Then Sunday happened, just Boddie’s second game without a turnover all season.

“Twelve assists and no turnovers, you can’t get much better than that,” Fortner said. “No turnovers, that feels good as a point guard. That’s good stuff.”

Not that Boddie cared to embellish on the achievement. She was just proud to be apart of a much-needed blowout.

“We came out with the intensity that we needed to have,” Boddie said. “Teams have been catching up to us and playing us really well. We wanted to go out there and put our foot down and not even let them think they had a chance to win.

“Especially after the lashing Coach Fortner gave us after the Ole Miss game, we needed to do that. It feels good.”

| 737-2561

Auburn vs. Kentucky
Where: Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum
When: 6 p.m.
TV/Radio: None/WMXA 96.7 FM
This and that: Kentucky’s Victoria Dunlap is the sister of former Auburn offensive lineman King Dunlap … Auburn leads the all-time series 23-11 and has won eight of the 13 meetings in Auburn. Nell Fortner is 3-2 all-time against the Wildcats … Kentucky has lost five of its past six and is just 3-6 on the road this season … Whitney Boddie has been responsible for no fewer than 1,881 points scored during her time at Auburn.
Projected starters Auburn: F Trevesha Jackson (6.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg), F/G DeWanna Bonner (21.0 ppg, 8.6 rpg), G Sherell Hobbs (12.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg), G Alli Smalley (12.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg), G Whitney Boddie (10.3 ppg, 8.3 apg)
Projected starters Kentucky: F Eleia Roddy (11.6 ppg, 8.5 rpg), G Carly Ormerod (6.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg), G Amber Smith (7.5 ppg, 3.6 apg), G Amani Franklin (10.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg), G Victoria Dunlap (12.4 ppg, 8.9 rpg)