| Award |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year | Sarah Strong, UConn | Sarah Strong, UConn | Sarah Strong, UConn |
| Freshman of the Year | Aaliyah Chavez, Oklahoma | Aaliyah Chavez, Oklahoma | Aaliyah Chavez, Oklahoma |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Sarah Strong, UConn | Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame | Sarah Strong, UConn |
| Most Improved Player | Gabriela Jaquez, UCLA | Jordan Lee, Texas | Ava Heiden, Iowa |
| Coach of the Year | Shea Ralph, Vanderbilt | Geno Auriemma, UConn | Shea Ralph, Vanderbilt |
| First-team All-American | Sarah Strong, Mikayla Blakes, Lauren Betts, Madison Booker, Olivia Miles | Sarah Strong, Madison Booker, Azzi Fudd, Audi Crooks, Mikayla Blakes | Sarah Strong, Mikayla Blakes, Lauren Betts, Madison Booker, Hannah Hidalgo |
Women's basketball midseason awards: Expert picks for Player of the Year, Most Improved and more
Three CBS Sports experts are making their awards picks and Final Four predictions as we pass the 2025-26 season's midway mark
The women's college basketball season has been absolutely wild, and now that we're a few weeks into conference play, CBS Sports thought it was a good time to take stock of the season so far and hand out some midseason awards. For these awards, we picked the player we believed deserved the award right this moment -- so through the games on Thursday, Jan. 22.
We also revisited our preseason predictions and updated our picks for regular-season conference winners, Final Four and national champs.
Without further ado, here are our midseason award winners and end-of-season predictions:
Midseason awards
Expert explanations
Maloney: Strong is running away with Player of the Year honors as the best player on the country's best team. She should also be recognized as the Defensive Player of the Year, though she has more competition on that front. Strong leads the country in defensive win shares (2.8) and defensive box score plus-minus (plus-13), is second in the country in Hakeem rate, which combines steal rate and block rate, (15%) and tied for third in defensive RAPM (6.1).
The Freshman of the Year race is tough to call. Aaliyah Chavez and Aubrey Galvan are doing the most for contending teams, Jazzy Davidson has been forced to carry USC on her back and Lauren Whittaker is putting up the best stats against the weakest competition. This one really could go any way, but Chavez has the slight edge right now, especially after her brilliant performance in Oklahoma's upset win over South Carolina.
There shouldn't be much debate about Vanderbilt's Shea Ralph as Coach of the Year. She has the Commodores off to a 20-0 start that no one saw coming. Most Improved Player was another difficult pick due to the vast number of candidates. Gabriela Jaquez earned the nod for the major strides she's made, particularly as a shooter. She's scoring 14.8 points per game on 48.5% from 3-point range (both career-highs), which has not only helped the Bruins start off 18-1, but turned her into a first-round WNBA prospect.
Gonzalez: The easiest choices for these awards were Sarah Strong for Player of the Year and Geno Auriemma as Coach of the Year. UConn looks like the most dominant team in the nation and the fact that we often talk about how the Huskies can go undefeated says a lot about the leadership of this group. As for Jordan Lee being Most Improved, she has shone in a bigger role this season, particularly as a consistent shooter, which was something Texas lacked last year.
Despite Notre Dame struggling during this rebuilding season, the way Hannah Hidalgo disrupts opponents is still impressive enough to earn her Defensive Player of the Year. Meanwhile, the Freshman of the Year race didn't have a clear leader up until Thursday night. Aaliyah Chavez changed that with her ability to take over in Oklahoma's overtime win against South Carolina.
Gibbs: Sarah Strong is obviously the Player of the Year and Aaliyah Chavez's OT explosion against South Carolina on Thursday night put her ahead in the Freshman of the Year conversation, at least at this midseason point. We will know much more about Vanderbilt after they play South Carolina on Sunday, but at this moment, Shea Ralph is clearly the Coach of the Year. Not not many expected the Commodores to take such a big step forward this season, especially after Khamil Pierre transferred out.
I bounced around Hannah Hidalgo and Lauren Betts for Defensive Player of the Year, but Strong leading the country in defensive win shares ultimately swayed me to the UConn star once again. I could make an argument for about 15 players as Most Improved, including Ava Heiden's Iowa teammate Chazadi "ChitChat" Wright, but the way Heiden went from being a rotation afterthought her freshman year to a bonafide star running mate to Hannah Stuelke in the Hawkeyes' frontcourt this season, averaging 16.3 points and 7.7 rebounds a game, really stood out to me. Hidalgo earned my final spot in the first-team All-American list because, despite Notre Dame's struggles, she is third in the nation in scoring with 24.6 points per game, and leads the nation with 5.7 steals per game -- a staggering 1.5 steals per game more than anyone else in women's college basketball.
Conference champion predictions
Conference champion predictions
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|---|---|---|---|
| ACC |  |  | |
| Big Ten |  | | |
| Big 12 |  | | |
| SEC |  |  | |
Final Four predictions
Final Four predictions
National champion prediction
Expert explanations
Maloney: Crazy things happen in single-elimination tournaments, but it's really hard to imagine someone beating this UConn team right now. They have everything a team needs to win a national championship: elite talent leading the way (Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd), an excellent coach (Geno Auriemma), a top-level defense (69.7 defensive rating, 1st in the country), strong outside shooting (39% from 3-point range, 4th in the country) and plenty of depth. The Huskies are a tier above everyone else, and have a real chance to pull off their seventh perfect season.
Gonzalez: I really struggled with picking the fourth team for the Final Four because UCLA has really proven itself too. However, Kim Mulkey has a lot of talent on her roster and the way LSU bounced back from an 0-2 start in SEC play shows how dangerous the Tigers can be when they truly lock in.
The Big Ten and ACC regular season champions were not too difficult to decide, but the SEC is too deep for an obvious winner. The Longhorns got my vote because of how tough they've played all season. Their two losses have been to LSU and South Carolina, and those were on the road and only by a combined eight points.
As for the Big 12, this conference has taken us on a roller coaster ride. Earlier in the season I would have picked Iowa State, but the Cyclones' recent struggles have opened the door for other competition. Although Baylor seems to have the most momentum right now, the fight TCU has shown in tight games could give the Horned Frogs an edge as the season continues to develop.
Gibbs: I was the lone person from our team not to pick UConn to win it all in the preseason, and while I am still pretty high on Texas' potential, especially if the Longhorns can get and stay healthy, UConn just looks head and shoulders above everyone else. I feel pretty good about my Final Four picks of UConn and UCLA, but right now it's a bit of a toss-up as to which two SEC teams I think will join them. Ultimately, I leaned towards the ceilings of LSU and Texas, but strongly considered South Carolina, too. For the conference picks, UCLA was the only one that wasn't a tough call at this point of the season. Duke will threaten Louisville, but I think Louisville's depth gives them the edge, and while the SEC feels like a complete question mark, I'm sticking with my faith in Texas.
