The women’s NCAA tournament begins Friday. Often, March Madness has showed us that, sometimes, one player can make or break a team’s chances in the tournament.
In 2019, it was an incredible streak from Sabrina Ionescu that powered Oregon to the Final Four. Last season, strong play from the duo of Emily Engstler and Hailey Van Lith lifted Louisville there. And South Carolina and UConn don’t meet for last year’s title without the awesome play of Aliyah Boston and Paige Bueckers.
So, we’ve decided to rank the most important players in the NCAA tournament this season. We couldn’t rank every player, so we omitted a few, like Maryland’s do-it-all guard Diamond Miller, stellar UNC forward Alyssa Ustby, and Oklahoma’s record-setting shooter Taylor Robertson. And we probably would’ve included Freshman of the Year frontrunner Ta’Niya Latson, but Florida State announced that she is out for the tournament.
Read up on those players by clicking those hyperlinks above, and then dive into this list.
10
Celeste Taylor, Duke
The Blue Devils enter the tournament as having one of the best defenses in the country under Kara Lawson, allowing a nation’s best 50.8 points per game. The player that is the nucleus of that defense is Celeste Taylor. She is a versatile defender armed with speed, long arms and a sharp basketball IQ. She’s a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award and her prowess on that end of the floor has made her stock rise up WNBA Draft boards. Taylor also averages 11.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game. She’s 13th in the nation in defensive win shares (2.6) and fourth in the ACC in defensive rating (76.9). Taylor leads Duke in scoring, steals and minutes played.
Celeste Taylor named one of 4 finalists for 2023 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year!
Winner announced March 29 in Dallas during the Women’s Final Four 👀 pic.twitter.com/PxLJNpBnVN
— Duke Women’s Basketball (@DukeWBB) March 13, 2023
9
Cameron Brink, Stanford
Stanford is third in the nation in field goal defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 33 percent from the floor. The Cardinal are also third nationally in rebounding rate with a mark of 41.6 percent. The play of 6-foot-5 Brink is a big reason why Stanford is so efficient on defense and so strong on the boards. Twice named the Pac-12’s Defensive Player of the Year, Brink is third in the nation in blocks this year with 3.4 per game, while also averaging 14.9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. She’s also 10th in the nation in PER with a 38.8 mark. The hurdle for Brink at times has been her tendency to foul, averaging 2.6 per game, which often gets her in trouble and lands her on the bench.
8
Sonia Citron, Notre Dame
The Irish announced Thursday that All-American point guard Olivia Miles is out for the remainder of the season. This is a Notre Dame team that was already playing without its top 3-point shooter in Dara Mabrey. If Notre Dame is to advance in this tournament, it’s going to need big-time performances from sophomore Sonia Citron. The good news is, she’s proven to be capable of providing just that. In the game Miles went down in, Citron tallied 27 points in Notre Dame’s regular season finale at Louisville to help the Irish secure the ACC title. Then, in an ACC tournament quarterfinals win over N.C. State, she racked up 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists. If the Irish want to make a deep run in March, they’ll need Citron at her very best.
This crossover by Sonia Citron was textbook 😮💨 @ndwbb pic.twitter.com/OlHuL52arY
— espnW (@espnW) March 3, 2023
7
Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech
Hokies’ head coach Kenny Brooks said it best after Virginia Tech won the ACC tournament title: “(Elizabeth Kitley) has proven that she’s the best player in the league. Georgia has proven that she’s the most important.”
Virginia Tech is riding an 11-game winning streak entering the NCAA tournament, and Amoore is a big reason why. The Hokies don’t win the ACC tournament title without her. Over three games in Greensboro, N.C., the Australian point guard averaged 21.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game while shooting 43 percent from the floor. She also set the ACC tournament record with 14 3-pointers made in a single tournament.
Indeed, Kitley – the two-time ACC Player of the Year – is crucial to the Hokies’ success, but so is the play of Amoore.
6
Angel Reese, LSU
The Bayou Barbie is second nationally in rebounding and fifth in scoring with 15.5 boards and 23.4 points per game. Reese is first in the nation in free throws made (6.8), fourth in offensive rebounding rate (20.4) and second in win shares (9.6). She’s powered LSU to a 28-2 record this season and leads the Tigers in minutes, scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, shot attempts, free throw attempts, steals and blocks. Simply put: LSU is successful this season because of Reese’s elevated play. They’ll continue to win if she continues to play like one of the best in the country.
5
Grace Berger, Indiana
Berger missed all of December with an injury, but returned on Jan. 8 and led the Hoosiers to 13 straight wins while averaging 13 points, 6.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game during that stretch. Berger is capable of creating her own scoring opportunities and setting up her teammates. She’s a 40 percent 3-point shooter, and can take defenders down to the paint, like this:
Grace Berger; a complete technician pic.twitter.com/EFxZWWpmPj
— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) February 26, 2023
4
Maddy Siegrist, Villanova
She’s the nation’s leading scorer at 28.9 points per game, first in the country in PER at 46.6 and fifth in usage rate at 37.6 percent. Simply put: Villanova will go as far as Siegrsit takes them. And that could be pretty far. The Wildcats have beaten several teams in this year’s tournament, such as Princeton, USF, Marquette, St. John’s and Creighton, and played three close games with UConn.
3
Azzi Fudd, UConn
Fudd has played in 12 games for UConn this year. With her, the Huskies are 11-1 and the lone loss came at Notre Dame in a game where Fudd played just 13 minutes before getting hurt. Without Fudd, the Huskies are 18-4 – which shows that, without her, UConn is still pretty good, but with her, they can contend for a spot in the Final Four. Fudd helped UConn beat seven teams that are in the NCAA Tournament field, including Texas, N.C. State, Duke, Iowa and Villanova.
In Fudd’s first five games of the season – all wins for UConn – she looked like one of the best players in the country, averaging 25.6 points, 3.1 assists, 1.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 53.1 percent from the floor. UConn hasn’t played since March 6, giving Fudd 10 full days of rest. If she can be close to the player she was in November, UConn might be able to beat anyone.
AZZI FUDD
SPLASH pic.twitter.com/nyECPUvMYV
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) March 7, 2023
2
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Boston is the best player on the best team and will likely be the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft. She is an absolute force in the paint on both ends, and – according to HerHoopStats – she’s the only player in the country that ranks in the top 10 of offensive rating and defensive rating. Boston’s basic stats might not be all that mind-blowing – 13.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.1 blocks per game – but if you watch her play, there’s no denying that she’s one of the best to ever play in women’s college basketball.
1
Caitlin Clark, Iowa
Clark is likely going to win the National Player of the Year award. She’s third in the nation in scoring with 27.1 points per game, first in 3-pointers made (3.4 per game), second in free throws made (6.3), and first in assists (8.3). She’s an electric scorer who has topped the 30-point mark 10 times this season. She’s also dropped four triple-doubles as she does a bit of everything for the Hawkeyes. She just lifted Iowa to a Big Ten Championship. Can she lead them to the Final Four, or even further?
