5 Canadians to watch during NCAA women's March Madness

There are a few Canadian women with sights set on leaving their imprint at March Madness.

The NCAA women's basketball tournament begins Wednesday with two First Four games, followed by 32 first-round games on Friday and Saturday. The Final Four will be in Cleveland, Ohio on April 5, with the title game being on April 7.

The Canadian Press takes a look at five Canadian players to watch in the women's NCAA tournament.

Edwards came off a stellar junior season in 2022-23 — earning AP third team all-American honours — and followed it up with an even better senior year in 2023-24.

The projected first-round pick in the upcoming WNBA draft and junior star guard Paige Bueckers have paired up to combine for 39.1 of UConn's 80.8 points per game.

Edwards, however, missed the last two games of the Big East tournament, which UConn won, due to a broken nose against Providence in the quarterfinals on March 9. She is expected back for the NCAA tournament as the third seed in the Portland 3 Region plays 14th-seeded Jackson State on Saturday.

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The six-foot-one senior forward from Calgary has enjoyed a career season in 2023-24, boasting career highs of 19.8 points and 8.5 rebounds for the Bulldogs.

She led Gonzaga to a 30-3 record, with the 16th spot in the AP Top 25 rankings and is a top-five finalist for the Katrina McClain Award, presented to the NCAA women's basketball power forward of the year, alongside Edwards. Ejim was also named the West Coast Conference player of the year.

The Bulldogs hold the fourth seed in the Portland 4 Region and will face 13th seed UC Irvine on Saturday.

The six-foot senior guard out of Ottawa plays a bench role for the Cardinals, averaging career-bests