The 2026-27 women's college basketball season tipped off on Nov. 1 with Notre Dame's 99-75 win over Villanova at the Eternal City Tip-Off in Rome, Italy, as Hannah Hidalgo scored 32 points. Most other top players, including JuJu Watkins returning from an ACL tear, begin their seasons shortly after. CBS Sports has released its ranking of the top 10 players to watch this season.
Leading the list is UConn sophomore Sarah Strong, the 2026 Naismith Player of the Year, who averaged 18.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 3.4 steals and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 58.2% from the field and over 40% from three-point range. Strong played through an Achilles tendon issue last season and is expected to be even more dangerous after a summer of rest.
Notre Dame senior Hannah Hidalgo ranks second after averaging 25.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and a Division I single-season record 5.6 steals per game, earning Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honors. She will be the only returning player for the Fighting Irish.
USC's JuJu Watkins, the 2024-25 Naismith Player of the Year, comes in third. She returns after missing the 2025-26 season with a torn ACL, having previously set the NCAA freshman scoring record with 920 points and averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.8 blocks per game.
The rest of the top 10 includes Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes (fourth), who led the nation in scoring at 27.1 points per game as a sophomore; Texas forward Madison Booker (fifth), who averaged 18.9 points and recorded a triple-double; South Carolina's Joyce Edwards (sixth), who set a program single-season scoring record with 768 points; Ohio State guard Jaloni Cambridge (seventh), the Big Ten's leading scorer at 23.2 points per game; Oklahoma State center Audi Crooks (eighth), the nation's second-leading scorer at 25.8 points per game; Michigan's Olivia Olson (ninth), who averaged 18.9 points and hit a game-winner against Ohio State; and Duke forward Toby Fournier (tenth), who averaged 17.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.
