Ranking the 15 best players in the womens Final Four

With just four teams remaining in the NCAA tournament, ESPN’s final women’s college basketball player rankings for 2025-26 are pared down to 15 as the tournament shifts to Phoenix for the national semifinals.

UConn’s Sarah Strong remains at the top after guiding the Huskies to their 25th Final Four with two victories in Fort Worth Regional 1. Strong has been No. 1 since the preseason rankings. The sophomore is trying to replicate what former Huskies great Breanna Stewart did: win four national championships in her four seasons.

Trying to stop her in the semifinals will be South Carolina, which has such a balanced attack that five Gamecocks made this list. On the other side of the bracket, Texas (Madison Booker) and UCLA (Lauren Betts) each have a player in the top five.

The national semifinals are at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET Friday on ESPN, and Sunday’s championship game is at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

Forward | 6-foot-2 | Sophomore

Sweet 16 ranking: 1

2025-26 stats: 18.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 59.4% FG

By any reasonable standard, a 21-point, seven-rebound performance in a regional final would be considered outstanding. Yet those were the numbers Strong put up against Notre Dame and it seemed like she was a bit off for much of Sunday’s game. Strong has set the bar so high that a 6-for-13 shooting performance seems like an off day. Defensively, though, Strong was incredible in Fort Worth, Texas. She totaled 10 steals, five blocks and 16 defensive rebounds and was the catalyst in holding North Carolina and Notre Dame to 94 combined points. UConn scored that many points in a game on 10 occasions this season. Strong is the best defensive player in the country, and her play at that end of the floor might win the Huskies their 13th national title. — Charlie Creme

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Forward | 6-1 | Junior

Sweet 16 ranking: 5

2025-26 stats: 19.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 3.8 APG

She was the Fort Worth Regional 3’s most outstanding player as the Longhorns cruised past Kentucky and Michigan. Booker had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists against the Wildcats and 19 points and seven rebounds against the Wolverines. In this NCAA tournament, she is shooting 58.6% from the field while averaging 22.5 points and 8.8 rebounds. She also is one of the team’s vocal leaders. The last time Booker faced the Bruins, when Texas beat UCLA 76-65 in November at the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas, she had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. — Michael Voepel

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Guard | 5-11 | Senior

Sweet 16 ranking: 4

2025-26 stats: 17.5 PPG, 3.1 APG, 45.5% 3FG

Fudd’s shooting in the regionals (9-for-24) was representative of the entire UConn performance. Her 23 points in the two games fell well short of the 34 Fudd scored in Round 2 against Syracuse. But sometimes “when” is as important as “how many.” Fudd scored eight of her 13 points against Notre Dame in the fourth quarter, preventing any thought of an Irish comeback. She also had five assists and three steals against Notre Dame. This is the same Fudd who was the Final Four Most Outstanding Player a year ago. In two games against South Carolina last season, she had 28 and 24 points. — Charlie Creme

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Center | 6-7 | Senior

Sweet 16 ranking: 6

2025-26 stats: 17.1 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 3.2 APG

It comes as no surprise that Betts has been UCLA’s best player through the first four games of the tournament and has fueled the Bruins’ return to the Final Four. She’s averaging 24.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.0 blocks and 1.3 steals per game in the tournament, delivering on every inch of the court. In UCLA’s Elite Eight win over Duke, Betts’ five blocks made her the program’s all-time leader in blocks with 230 in her career. She has tallied 71 (and counting) this season alone. — Kendra Andrews

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Forward | 6-3 | Sophomore

Sweet 16 ranking: 8

2025-26 stats: 19.7 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 58.2% FG

At 20.5 points per game through four NCAA tournament games, Edwards is exceeding her regular-season play, and that includes an eight-point performance in the regional semifinals against Oklahoma. Against TCU on Monday, Edwards equaled her season high with 20 field goal attempts, just another example of her growing confidence. She’s no longer trying to figure out what to do in these more pressurized games; Edwards is dictating how they go. Although it took South Carolina until the fourth quarter to put away the Horned Frogs, Edwards established the Gamecocks’ inside dominance and was a big part of their 18-point advantage in the paint. — Creme

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Forward | 6-2 | Freshman

Sweet 16 ranking: 19

2025-26 stats: 10.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 54.1% FG

Nothing like having the second-highest-scoring game of your career in the biggest game of your career to date. The moment of a regional final was not too big for Quiñonez, and the game against Notre Dame might have gone quite differently had she not scored 20 points. Even more crucial to the outcome were the 14 points in the first half at a time when Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd weren’t at their best. The day might come when Quiñonez is UConn’s best player, perhaps even the best player in the country. For now, though, she takes her spot behind the two veterans and has demonstrated she’s ready when needed. — Creme

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Guard | 6-0 | Junior

Sweet 16 ranking: 17

2025-26 stats: 12.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 44.5% 3FG

March was Johnson’s month: She scored in double figures in every game except one. Now heading into April and the Final Four, Johnson is South Carolina’s most dangerous 3-point threat. She is 11-of-17 (64.7%) from behind the arc in this tournament, going 5-of-5 in the regional victories against Oklahoma and TCU. She had 14 points, four rebounds and two assists against the Sooners and 11 points, three rebounds and two assists against the Horned Frogs. — Voepel

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Center | 6-6 | Senior

Sweet 16 ranking: 22

2025-26 stats: 13.2 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 58.4% FG

Okot went from 15 points in each of the first two rounds to 15 points total in the Sacramento regional, but South Carolina still won both games by 52 points, which illustrates just how many ways the Gamecocks can win. Her size was still integral in limiting TCU’s Marta Suarez and Clara Silva to a combined 5-of-20 shooting in the Elite Eight. Okot’s performance all season exceeded expectations but in retrospect was exactly what South Carolina needed to reach this point. Okot is a better player than she was a year ago at Mississippi State, and her ceiling is high. — Creme

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Guard | 5-9 | Senior

Sweet 16 ranking: unranked

2025-26 stats: 10.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 5.4 APG

The heart of the Gamecocks’ defense, Johnson had a strong regional showing. She was 8-of-11 from the field for 18 points, two rebounds and three assists in South Carolina’s Sweet 16 victory over Oklahoma. In the regional final win over TCU, Johnson had 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists. This is her fifth season at South Carolina, having redshirted her first year there with a knee injury. The Gamecocks have made the Final Four every season she has been at South Carolina. — Voepel

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Guard | 5-11 | Senior

Sweet 16 ranking: 23

2025-26 stats: 15.2 PPG, 4.5 APG, 49.7% FG

Rice has remained productive throughout the tournament, providing the Bruins with supplementary scoring and facilitating, but her efficiency has dropped. She’s shooting 38.5% from the floor — about 10% worse than her regular-season shooting percentage. For the Bruins to get past Texas, UCLA needs Rice to remain not only a sharp scorer but also an offensive threat who will pull defenders away from the paint just because she is on the court. — Andrews

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Guard | 6-foot | senior

Sweet 16 ranking: unranked

2025-26 stats: 9.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 50.8% FG

Dugalić has been the Bruins’ second-best player through the first four rounds. In the Sweet 16, she recorded a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double and then followed it up with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals in the Elite Eight. When she shares the floor with Betts, she gives UCLA a massive size advantage. When the star center is on the bench, Dugalić ensures the Bruins can still run their offense through the paint, which has been crucial to their success. — Andrews

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Guard | 5-foot-6 | senior

Sweet 16 ranking: unranked

2025-26 stats: 8.4 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 6.3 APG

Harmon set the school career records for assists and steals this season as she finishes an unforgettable career that saw the resurgence of Texas women’s basketball. In her freshman season in 2022, Texas won the Big 12 tournament title for the first time since 2003. Now in the SEC, Texas is going to the Final Four for the second consecutive season. In the Fort Worth Regional 3, she had 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and six steals against Kentucky. In the regional title game against Michigan, she had seven points, seven rebounds and 13 assists, which tied an NCAA tournament record for most assists in an Elite Eight game. In Texas’ November win over UCLA, Harmon led the way with 26 points and five assists. — Voepel

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Guard | 5-8 | senior

Sweet 16 ranking: unranked

2025-26 stats: 14.3 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 3.5 APG

The chance to play in a Final Four is one of the reasons Latson transferred to South Carolina after three years at Florida State. She also thought it would improve her game overall. Against Oklahoma in the Sweet 16, she had her second-highest point total of the season with 28, plus five assists, shooting 7-of-11 from the field (4-of-4 from 3-point range) and 10-of-10 from the foul line. She had a quieter game in the regional final, with just three points and three assists vs. TCU. For the Gamecocks to beat UConn, they will need Latson’s scoring. — Voepel

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Guard | 6-0 | Sophomore

Sweet 16 ranking: unranked

2025-26 stats: 13.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.5 APG

She had some big moments as a freshman in last year’s NCAA tournament, scoring in double figures three times, including 16 points vs. South Carolina in the national semifinals. Lee has really blossomed this season: She is Texas’ second-leading scorer and is third in assists. She had 18 points, three assists and three steals against Kentucky in the regional semifinals. She had a rough 2-of-17, four-point performance vs. Michigan in the Elite Eight, but coach Vic Schaefer expressed confidence in her after that game, saying she won’t ever shoot that poorly again. Even on a night when her offense wasn’t on, Lee was still a big part of holding Michigan to 41 points. Lee had 13 points in November when Texas beat UCLA. — Voepel

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Guard | 6-foot | Senior

Sweet 16 ranking: unranked

2025-26 stats: 13.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 54.2% FG

Jaquez has been a steady scorer and has done it incredibly efficiently this tournament, averaging about 11 points per game and shooting 53.1% from the floor. She gives the Bruins an option who can pick up speed driving to the hoop, helping them flourish in the paint. She didn’t have her strongest showing during the regionals, but when she is on, she gives the UCLA offense another dimension. — Andrews