Caitlin Clark heads list of 15 Wooden Award finalists

Reigning winner Caitlin Clark of Iowa and 2021 honoree Paige Bueckers of UConn head the 15 finalists announced Sunday for the Wooden Award as the most outstanding women's college basketball player.

Clark has set numerous all-time records on her way to her third Big Ten Player of the Year honor this season. Bueckers recently was voted Big East Player of the Year.

The national ballot for the trophy and the Wooden Award All-America Team also includes players of the year in Cameron Brink of Stanford (Pac-12), Elizabeth Kitley of Virginia Tech (Atlantic Coast Conference), and Angel Reese of LSU (Southeastern Conference).

Four schools have multiple players on the ballot: UConn (Aaliyah Edwards, Bueckers), LSU (Aneesah Morrow, Reese), Stanford (Kiki Iriafen, Brink) and Virginia Tech (Georgia Amoore, Kitley).

Other finalists are freshmen JuJu Watkins of Southern California and Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame, as well as South Carolina's Kamilla Cardoso, Indiana's Mackenzie Holmes, Kansas State's Ayoka Lee, and Utah's Alissa Pili.

Voting will take place from March 19-26, and voters take into consideration a player's entire season through the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

The Los Angeles Athletic Club will announce the finalists on April 2.