The UConn women’s basketball team is represented on watchlists for four of the five Basketball Hall of Fame positional awards in 2025-26 after senior Serah Williams was named to the preseason top 20 for the Lisa Leslie Award given to the nation’s top center.
The only award watchlist that did not feature a Huskies player was the Nancy Lieberman Award for the best point guard in the country. Redshirt senior guard Azzi Fudd, redshirt senior guard Caroline Ducharme and sophomore forward Sarah Strong were all named to watchlists this week at their respective positions.
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Williams, who transferred to UConn this season after three years at Wisconsin, is also on the preseason watchlist for the Naismith Trophy, and she was named to the preseason All-Big East team last week. The 6-foot-4 forward was a two-time All-Big Ten first team selection and the 2024 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year with the Badgers, and she averaged a near double-double in 2024-25 with 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game plus 2.4 assists and 2.3 blocks.
No UConn player has won the Lisa Leslie Award since it was introduced in 2018. UCLA’s Lauren Betts earned the honor last year and is back on the watchlist this season, as are two other 2025 finalists: Iowa State’s Audi Crooks and Oklahoma’s Raegan Beers.
Lisa Leslie Award preseason watchlist
Raegan Beers, Oklahoma; Lauren Betts, UCLA; Audi Crooks, Iowa State; Breya Cunningham, Texas; Aalyah Del Rosario, Vanderbilt; Ra Shaya Kyle, Miami
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Gracie Merkle, Penn State; Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State; Megan Nestor, North Texas; Madina Okot, South Carolina; Lara Rohkohl, BYU; Ashley Sofilkanich, Michigan; Clara Strack, Kentucky
Tilda Trygger, NC State; Kennedy Umeh, Stanford; Sakima Walker, California; Lauren Ware, Texas A&M; Serah Williams, UConn; Laura Ziegler, Louisville
