Sports Illustrated’s 2025–26 Women’s College Basketball All-Americans

After a dominant national championship win by UCLA, Sports Illustrated is honoring the 10 best women’s college basketball players in the 2025–26 season. Here are our first- and second-team selections:

First Team

Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame

Stats: 25.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 47.5% FG%, 25.4% 3FG%

Hidalgo vaulted herself into the first team with a March Madness performance for the ages that saw her rack up 26 steals, a record for a single NCAA tournament, while leading Notre Dame to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019. If looking for an indication of how dominant Hidalgo was this season, look no further than her 31-point, 11-rebound, 10-steal masterpiece in the Sweet 16 victory over Vanderbilt, just the second-ever NCAA tournament triple-double with steals.

Azzi Fudd, UConn

Stats: 17.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 48.1% FG%, 44.7% 3FG%

Fudd capped a remarkable five-year run with UConn by putting together her best collegiate season as a senior. She and Sarah Strong formed one of the most deadly inside-outside combinations in the sport, with Fudd knocking down three shots from deep per game for the Huskies. Her 117 triples led Division I women’s basketball. She developed into a force on the defensive side of the ball as well, registering 2.5 steals per game.

Madison Booker, Texas

Stats: 18.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 50.8% FG%, 28.4% 3FG%

Don’t let her poor shooting performance in the Final Four loss to UCLA fool you. Madison Booker was a walking bucket for Texas this season, draining more midrange jump shots than any player in the country while giving opposing defenses fits with her ability to score at either elbow or with a full head of steam in transition. Booker, who averaged 2.2 steals per game, was also a key cog in Texas’s defense, which was one of the best in the country.

Sarah Strong, UConn

Stats: 18.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 58.2% FG%, 40.4% 3FG%

After a standout freshman campaign for the 2025 national champion Huskies, Strong upped her game in ’25–26, leading a dominant UConn squad in points, rebounds, steals, blocks and finishing second in assists. An elite inside presence who also knocked down more than 40% of her shots from deep, Strong has taken home a slew of national player of the year awards. Strong posted 10 double-doubles on the season, with two coming in the NCAA tournament—21 points and 10 rebounds in the Sweet 16 win over North Carolina and 12 points and 12 boards in the Final Four loss to South Carolina.

Lauren Betts, UCLA

Stats: 17.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 58.2% FG%

Simply put, Betts’s combination of size, strength, footwork and touch in the low post were unmatched by any player in women’s college basketball this season. And while the 6' 7" Betts still led UCLA in scoring, it was her evolution as a passer that truly took her game to new heights in 2025–26 and helped power the star-studded Bruins to their first national championship in the NCAA era.

Second Team

Olivia Miles, TCU

Stats: 19.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 48.1% FG%, 35.1% 3FG%

There was simply nothing Miles couldn’t do on the court this season for TCU, whom she led to the Elite Eight for the second consecutive year, the first time the program has reached the regional final in back-to-back seasons. Miles’s greatest strength is her ability to attract defensive attention and consistently find her open teammates, almost as if she has eyes in the back of her head. That she also rebounds the ball like a much larger player and has developed a more reliable three-point shot makes her the complete package.

Kiki Rice, UCLA

Stats: 15.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 49.1% FG%, 37.8% 3FG%

Rice was the second-leading scorer on the national champion Bruins and one of the best floor generals in the sport, as she ranked inside the top-10 players in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio. The senior guard was also a reliable three-point shooter and one of the best on-ball defenders in the country.

Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt

Stats: 27.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 45.6% FG%, 35.9% 3FG%

Blakes put together an absolutely dominant sophomore season in the SEC, averaging 30.5 points per game in conference play to win the league’s player of the year award and lead the Commodores to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Her 918 points on the season led all women’s Division I players, and she improved in most categories beyond her scoring output from her impressive freshman season despite being the clear focal point of Shea Ralph’s offense. Blakes also finished third in the SEC with 2.9 steals per game.

Joyce Edwards, South Carolina

Stats: 19.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 57.6% FG%

Edwards came off the bench for Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks last season, then in her first year as a starter in 2025–26 evolved into one of the best players in the country and a vocal leader for South Carolina. Her midrange jumper has become a weapon but her contributions on the defensive end really helped this Gamecocks team realize its full potential, particularly in the NCAA tournament.

Audi Crooks, Iowa State

Stats: 25.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 64.9% FG%

Crooks was an unstoppable force in the paint all season long for Iowa State, as she ranked among the top-five players in the country in effective field goal percentage and shot a whopping 76.6% on close two-point field goals. The soon-to-be senior center’s physicality in the low post figures to make her a centerpiece for the team that ultimately lands her in the transfer portal.