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Alexa Philippou, ESPN
Upcoming women’s Final Four participants Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes and Paige Bueckers of the UConn Huskies headline the five-player finalist list for the Wooden Award, given to the most outstanding player in women’s college basketball.
The group is rounded out by the Stanford Cardinal‘s Cameron Brink, USC Trojans‘ JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame Fighting Irish‘s Hannah Hidalgo, the latter two who are freshmen.
Those five were featured on the Wooden All-American Team, which also includes Virginia Tech Hokies‘ Georgia Amoore and Elizabeth Kitley, South Carolina Gamecocks‘ Kamilla Cardoso, LSU Tigers‘ Angel Reese and UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards.
Clark (2023) and Bueckers (2021) won two of the past three Wooden Awards and coincidentally will face off Friday for a spot in the national championship game. The former is the presumptive No. 1 pick in this month’s WNBA draft.
Cardoso and her undefeated Gamecocks face NC State in the other national semifinal and are looking to take home their third championship in seven tournaments.
Reese, last year’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and Watkins, the favorite for freshman of the year, bowed out of the NCAA tournament Monday at the hands of Iowa and UConn, respectively. Hidalgo’s and Brink’s squads fell in the Sweet 16, while Virginia Tech (without Kitley due to injury) lost in the second round.
The winner of this year’s Wooden Award will be announced later in April.