Grace Berger plays guard the way the position used to be described — as playmaker.

She sees the floor the way moms are described as keeping watch on their kids’ potential misbehavior — the joke being they have eyes in the back of their heads.

Or maybe it’s X-ray vision.

In this year of widespread achievement, as Indiana University has reached the lofty status of being ranked No. 2 in the country in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll, and the Hoosiers have recorded a school-best 22-1 start to the season, the 6-foot senior from Louisville is coach Teri Moren’s comfort food.

This may be the finest Hoosier team following seasons of NCAA tournament appearances in the Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen, though with March looming, it is too early to tell. In pure talent and depth, as IU faces an imposing Iowa squad, 19-4 and ranked No. 5, tonight at Assembly Hall, this team has the goods.

It is Berger who makes the offense hum, who sets up the plays, who directs the traffic. She has court presence and maturity that glues the rest of the lineup together, a security blanket for all.

Sometimes, Berger — especially since suffering a right knee injury that sidelined her from late November to January — is statistically limited in the box score, but she always contributes. A few games ago, Berger’s scoring was in the low single digits. But she had nine assists. Right before that, she scored 21 points and even hit a couple of 3-point shots.

That was different. Usually, Berger leaves the long-range stuff to teammates. She excels at the overlooked art of hitting the mid-range jumper, a weapon some teams even forget to cover.

Moren has seen so much excellence across the board from Berger, she routinely refers to her as a future pro, as in the WNBA, and has even summed up performances with phrases like “a Grace Berger game,” as if there was too much to praise.

For Berger, everything was put at risk when she hurt her right knee in the Las Vegas Invitational. Berger said she was not as discouraged as she might have been because she knew the injury was not season-ending.

Still, it was disconcerting to see her limping around in a heavy-duty knee brace, even as the Hoosiers kept winning. There was an undercurrent of disturbance in the force, as if too lengthy an absence could upend a special season.

“I couldn’t do a whole lot for a long time,” Berger said.

Being told to sit and rest is not a fun midseason directive from trainers and doctors.

“It’s the first time I missed a lot of games in my career,” she said. “But I knew I would be back.”

When Berger came back, she was scoring 11 points here, 11 points there. Perhaps her most visible vintage display occurred on Jan. 29 in a 91-68 victory over Rutgers. That day, she shot 9-for-11 from the field, scored her 21 points and passed off for seven assists.

“I thought Grace Berger was terrific today,” Moren said. “Today was a Grace Berger day, and we needed it. With every practice, with every game (it’s) the Grace Berger we’re used to seeing. Grace was positive from the beginning. She attacked her recovery the way she attacks the paint.”

Moren has made the Hoosiers perennial 20-game winners and NCAA threats. But the Monday announcement ranking was a new high point.

“I’m going to relish this for a minute,” Moren said, “knowing where the program was to where it is. We’ve made a lot of history since we’ve been here in our nine seasons, and it’s one of the more historical things we’ve been able to accomplish. We’re more than humbled to be No. 2.”

To stay No. 2, though, IU must fend off Iowa, another league power featuring stars as Caitlin Clark and Monika Czinano, counterpoints to the Hoosiers’ Mackenzie Holmes and Berger. The game might well break the women’s basketball attendance mark of 10,455 set recently versus Ohio State.

National rankings are at stake against Iowa. So is first place in the Big Ten standings. So might playoff seeding.

Given there are five league teams in the top 13, Berger was being literal, not uttering a cliché when she said, “We’re going to have a battle every single night.”

Lew Freedman writes sports columns for The Tribune. Send comments to [email protected].