“Should Lykendra Johnson be considered a candidate for Big Ten Player of the Year?” I asked.

The coach looked me right in the eye and without hesitation answered, “Yeah I’d say so,” as if she had been hoping for the opportunity to stake her player’s claim.

Johnson just had a spectacular game against Minnesota on Sunday, tallying 20 points and 17 rebounds and has continued to be an unstoppable force.

However, the players and coaches have refused to talk about their success. Repeatedly they turn down questions regarding their feelings on the season. They didn’t acknowledge their 14-game winning streak.

That’s not to say the team isn’t passionate about the game or its accomplishments. But this particular morning, Merchant chose to approve of Johnson being a contender for the conference’s most prestigious individual honor.

Her name deserves to be in the mix, but to actually win, she’d have to go through Ohio State’s Jantel Lavender — who happens to be the three-time defending recipient.

This would be like WWE wrestler Sheamus going up against the 1998 version of Stone Cold Steve Austin, when Austin was dishing out stunners like he was trying to satisfy his addiction.

Like Austin, it’s no contest. Hands down, Lavender wins, right?

As it stands right now, yes, but it’s worth a look.

Considering Johnson spent at least the first six games of the season adjusting from small forward to center because of an injury to her teammate that left the team thinner than Lindsay Lohan in the front court, let’s remove the nonconference games and consider points and rebounds.

In conference play, Lavender is averaging 20 points and 13.5 rebounds. Ridiculous numbers to say the least.

However, after Johnson completely altered the way she plays to matchup against each team’s largest player and standing only at 6-foot-1 (Lavender is 6-foot-4), her stat line is freakishly similar to Lavender’s.

Johnson is averaging almost as many rebounds with 12 (third in Big Ten) and although she is scoring a good six points less than Lavender, her 13.9 points per game still are good enough to place her among the top-10 scorers. Not to mention Lavender doubles Johnson’s attempts (323-160) and has played more than 100 more minutes this season (701-525).

Add in Johnson leading the league in offensive rebounds and steals, and it’s a much closer race than it seems.

She likely won’t win the award, but that doesn’t matter to her.

All that matters to her is her team is winning. And if they steal the Big Ten crown from Ohio State and advance deep into the NCAA Tournament, you won’t need me, or Merchant, to make her case come 2012.

Hands down, Johnson wins.