As conference play ramps up and the pressure mounts, the women’s Wooden Award race is shaping into a two-player showdown - at least according to the oddsmakers. Right now, UConn’s Sarah Strong and Iowa State’s Audi Crooks are neck and neck, sitting at roughly even odds to take home the hardware, per DraftKings. But if you ask some of the game’s greats, the conversation might need to be a little broader.
On the latest episode of the Post Moves podcast, Candace Parker and Aliyah Boston broke down their midseason award picks, and Parker made sure to shine a light on another name from Storrs: Azzi Fudd.
“I would love to add in Azzi Fudd, just because I don't like being bored with greatness,” Parker said. “Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd, half the time, aren't playing the minutes that they normally would because they're destroying everybody, and they're still averaging what they're averaging.”
She’s not wrong. Fudd and Strong are averaging around 27 minutes a night - a luxury that comes from UConn steamrolling its Big East competition.
The Huskies have won all nine of their conference games by at least 35 points, giving head coach Geno Auriemma plenty of breathing room to manage minutes. And yet, even in limited action, both players are putting up elite numbers that stack up with anyone in the country.
Fudd, the reigning Final Four Most Outstanding Player, continues to be one of the most dangerous shooters in the game. She ranks fifth nationally in three-point percentage and eighth in total threes made - a rare blend of efficiency and volume that speaks to her ability to stretch defenses and change the geometry of the court.
Then there’s Sarah Strong, who’s taken the leap from standout freshman to full-fledged superstar. She’s nearly at 19 points per game while boasting the fourth-best effective field goal percentage in the country - a stat that reflects just how efficient she’s been across the board.
But her game isn’t just about scoring. Strong is a force defensively, too, ranking third in total steals and swatting away 1.6 shots per contest.
That two-way dominance has propelled her to the top of the national leaderboard in Player Efficiency Rating (PER), a metric that captures just how impactful she is every time she steps on the floor.
Parker didn’t hold back on the praise, either.
“With Sarah Strong, a lot of the time when you look at her numbers, they're very similar to Maya Moore,” she said. “For her to be only a sophomore and have kind of figured out the game of basketball, playing the way she's playing... let's not get bored with greatness. Let's give credit where credit is due.”
That’s the key phrase here: don’t get bored with greatness. It’s easy to overlook players when they make it look this effortless - when they’re so dominant, so early, that their excellence becomes expected. But what Strong and Fudd are doing, in limited minutes and with sky-high efficiency, is anything but ordinary.
So while the Wooden Award race might look like a two-horse sprint on paper, the reality is a bit more nuanced. And if you’re watching what’s happening in Storrs - really watching - it’s clear that the Huskies have not one, but two players who deserve to be in that conversation.