The four players who will be on the court this weekend in the Women’s Final Four include Yukon‘S sarah strong And azy fad2026 John R. He is among five finalists for the Wooden Award, given annually to the nation’s best college basketball player.
UCLA‘S Lauren Bates, Vanderbilt‘S Mikayla Blakes And texas‘S madison booker Also made a list.
The Bates Bruins and Booker Longhorns face off in the national semifinals on Friday in Phoenix (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). In the first game of Friday’s doubleheader, Strong (18.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and Fudd (17.5 ppg, 45.5% on 3-pointers) led the Huskies. South Carolina (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Blake, whose Commodores were eliminated in the Elite Eight, led the nation in scoring at 27.0 points per game this season.
Additionally, five players were named to the 2026 Wooden Award All-America team.
Joining Bates, Blake, Booker, Fudd and Strong: iowa state junior audi crux; South Carolina sophomore year Joyce Edwards; Notre Dameis junior hannah hidalgo; LSUis senior flaujay johnson; And TCU graduate student olivia miles.
Bates (17.2 ppg, 8.6 rpg) and Booker (19.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg) are finalists for the second consecutive season. Bates, Booker, Hidalgo and Miles were also named to the 2025 Wooden All-America Team.
usc star juju watkins Was the 2025 Wooden Award Winner.
