Azzi Fudd and the 9 other most important players in the women’s NCAA tournament

The women’s NCAA tournament begins Friday. Often, March Madness has showed us that, sometimes, one player can make or break a team’s chances in the tournament.

In 2019, it was an incredible streak from Sabrina Ionescu that powered Oregon to the Final Four. Last season, strong play from the duo of Emily Engstler and Hailey Van Lith lifted Louisville there. And South Carolina and UConn don’t meet for last year’s title without the awesome play of Aliyah Boston and Paige Bueckers.

So, we’ve decided to rank the most important players in the NCAA tournament this season. We couldn’t rank every player, so we omitted a few, like Maryland’s do-it-all guard Diamond Miller, stellar UNC forward Alyssa Ustby, and Oklahoma’s record-setting shooter Taylor Robertson. And we probably would’ve included Freshman of the Year frontrunner Ta’Niya Latson, but Florida State announced that she is out for the tournament.

Read up on those players by clicking those hyperlinks above, and then dive into this list.