JuJu Watkins, Paige Bueckers Headline 2025 Naismith Women's College POY Semifinalists

USC's JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo and UConn's Paige Bueckers were among the players named semifinalists for the 2025 Naismith Women's College Basketball Player of the Year Award on Thursday.

In addition to Watkins, Hidalgo and Bueckers, seven other players were also chosen as semifinalists for the top honor in women's college basketball, as announced by the Naismith Awards:

• JuJu Watkins, G, USC
• Hannah Hidalgo, G, Notre Dame
• Paige Bueckers, G, UConn
• Aneesah Morrow, F, LSU
• Hailey Van Lith, G, TCU
• Ta'Niya Latson, G, Florida State
• Georgia Amoore, G, Kentucky
• Lauren Betts, C, UCLA
• Madison Booker, F, Texas
• Olivia Miles, G, Notre Dame

Iowa's Caitlin Clark won the Naismith Women's College Player of the Year Award each of the past two seasons at Iowa, but with Clark now starring for the WNBA's Indiana Fever, it opens the door for a new winner to emerge.

Watkins, who burst onto the scene as a highly productive guard last season, is arguably the favorite to win the award during her sophomore season.

She has led the No. 4 Trojans to a 28-3 record and is second in the country in scoring with 24.6 points per game, while also averaging 6.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.2 steals, 2.0 three-pointers made and 1.9 blocks per contest.

Watkins' toughest competition is likely another sophomore guard in Hidalgo, who has put up a similar stat line.

Hidalgo is averaging 24.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 3.7 steals and 2.0 three-pointers per game. She has also been more efficient than Watkins, shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from beyond the arc compared to 42.6 percent and 33.0 percent for Watkins.

While Hidalgo's Fighting Irish haven't been quite as dominant as USC, they are still the No. 8 team in the nation with a 26-5 record.

The only semifinalist who has won the Naismith Women's College Player of the Year Award before is Bueckers, who accomplished the feat as a freshman in 2021.

Injuries caused Bueckers to miss a large chunk of the 2021-22 season, and she missed the entire 2022-23 campaign due to a torn ACL, but she has bounced back the past two seasons and re-established herself as one of the top players in the sport.

This season, the senior guard is averaging 19.0 points on 53.6 percent shooting from the floor and 40.6 percent shooting from deep, plus 4.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.8 three-pointers made per game.

At 31-3, Bueckers' Huskies are the No. 3 team in the nation, and they are in search of their first national championship since 2016.

Both Watkins and Bueckers were finalists for the Naismith Women's College Player of the Year Award last year, finishing behind Clark.

The list of 10 semifinalists will soon shrink to a group of four finalists, as the finalists were announced on March 26 last year, followed by the winner, which was announced on April 3.