Ranking the 15 best players in the women's Final Four - ESPN

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