11 players who will determine the national championship | National

As the 2025 Women’s Basketball Tournament prepares for its Final Four, it’s clear that the remaining teams have been college basketball’s elite teams all season. The sport’s most decorated program in UConn, hard-nosed Texas, breakout Final Four first-timer UCLA and defending national champion South Carolina converge in Tampa with a combined 138 wins between them this season. As the teams look to notch two more wins in order to capture the national championship, the following 11 players are poised to determine which of these dominant squads will leave Florida with the title. –Paige Bueckers, UConn, and Lauren Betts, UCLA Beginning with the two most obvious candidates, Paige Bueckers and Lauren Betts have been two of college basketball’s most outstanding players all season. In Bueckers’ case, she arrived on the scene as one of the most highly touted recruits in women’s basketball — one reason that UConn coach Geno Auriemma said following the team’s Elite Eight win over Southern California that no other Huskies player had faced as much scrutiny in their career than her. However, Bueckers immediately lived up to the hype with AP Player of the Year honors in 2021 and has only grown as a player despite injuries. As excellent as Bueckers has been, she has taken her game to another level in this NCAA Tournament. She carries a three-game streak of scoring at least 31 points into the Final Four, including matching her career high with 34 in the second round against South Dakota State, only to break it the next game with 40 against Oklahoma. Bueckers’ outburst against the Sooners also set a program record for the most points in the NCAA Tournament. Given the star power to come through Storrs over the last few decades, that’s quite a record. Betts matched Bueckers with consecutive 30-plus-point games in the second round and Sweet 16, doing so while shooting a combined 29 of 33 from the floor. She also posted double-doubles against both Richmond and Ole Miss. Betts averages almost a double-double for the season with 20.0 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, but perhaps the most telling stat underscoring her importance to UCLA’s championship run is her 2.6 assists per game. Betts’ ability to pass out of the post in the face of double- and triple-teams often makes opponents pay for keying in on her. –Sarah Strong, UConn National Freshman of the Year Sarah Strong faces her most daunting challenge of a remarkable debut season. Strong comes into the Final Four averaging 16.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, following her 22-point, 17-rebound effort in the Elite Eight. Strong’s ability to work the glass in particular is critical — as is keeping Betts off the boards. Strong’s presence in the interior remains pivotal beyond the UCLA matchup, with potential matchups against Texas or South Carolina, two teams with dominant inside presences. And indeed, Strong’s 16 points and 13 rebounds were vital to a UConn rout of South Carolina in February. –Azzi Fudd, UConn Scoreless through three quarters in the Elite Eight, Fudd sank a pair of 3-pointers to fuel a fourth-quarter run that helped put away Southern California. That stretch offered a snapshot of the veteran guard’s X-factor as UConn’s potential third weapon behind Bueckers and Strong. Her 28 points against South Carolina provide another glimpse at Fudd’s importance against top-tier competition. –Kiki Rice, UCLA The versatile Rice sets the tone for the Bruins’ entire offensive identity with her court vision and uncanny distribution. Rice averages 5.1 assists per game, though she comes into the Final Four on a streak of five straight games in which she’s tallied at least seven assists. She’s also a dangerous scoring threat at 12.9 points per game, with a 3-point shooting average north of 36 percent. –Gabriela Jaquez, UCLA Her clutch 3-pointer effectively put away LSU in UCLA’s Elite Eight win, putting an exclamation point on an 18-point effort. The shot also contributed to a stretch in which Jaquez has hit multiple 3-pointers in four of the Bruins’ last seven games. Having that option is invaluable for UCLA in spreading the floor to take pressure off of Betts. –Joyce Edwards, South Carolina The freshman phenom stepped into some long shadows when she filled the interior role once occupied by South Carolina stars Aliyah Boston and Kamilla Cardoso. Boston and Cardoso were both central to national championship runs. While Edwards’ 12.7 points per game lead the Gamecocks for the season, she heads to Tampa on a bit of a slump, with just 15 combined points over South Carolina’s last three games. Coach Dawn Staley has built a winning program not reliant on an individual star to carry the load, a fact made plainly evident in South Carolina’s hard-fought wins over Indiana, Maryland, and Duke. The increasing stakes of the Final Four and the strength of the field’s frontcourts call on Edwards to step up. –Chloe Kitts, South Carolina A team’s management of the paint and boards may be the most significant factor in winning the 2025 national championship. To that end, Kitts has been sensational on South Carolina’s run to a fifth straight Final Four. Kitts posted double-doubles against both Indiana and Maryland and came one rebound shy of another when South Carolina last saw semifinal opponent Texas in the SEC Championship. –Raven Johnson, South Carolina Despite having less of a scoring role for the Gamecocks this season, Johnson could be a huge part of their push for a repeat. Her versatility is invaluable, particularly Johnson’s tenacious defense. She is adept at forcing pressure on the ball to create turnovers and is athletic enough to protect the rim as a shot-blocker, with three blocks over the last two contests. –Taylor Jones, Texas The veteran post player joined Texas from Oregon State and immediately made as much of an impact for the Longhorns as she had with the Beavers. Jones may have delivered her most impactful effort yet in the Elite Eight, helping shut down standout TCU center Sedona Prince. As the Longhorns face South Carolina for the fourth time this season, Jones’ defensive presence against the talented Gamecocks frontcourt takes center stage. She had four steals when Texas knocked off South Carolina in February and needs similar showings in the semifinals and potential matchups with UCLA or UConn. –Madison Booker, Texas The biggest stage calls for the biggest stars to shine. Texas has flourished this season through a combination of salty defensive effort and offensive depth, with players like Kyla Oldacre and Rori Harmon capable of stepping up to score big as needed. However, there’s no question Booker is the star of this Texas lineup. Headed to a likely second All-America selection in as many years, Booker rides a streak of nine straight and 19 of 20 games scoring in double figures. Her consistency is the cornerstone of a Texas offense that complements a 55.7-point per game defense with a 78.4-point per game offense. –Kyle Kensing, Field Level Media