This year’s NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament was supposed to be all about what Southern Cal could do with its megastar, JuJu Watkins.
But Watkins hurt her knee, and the Women of Troy fell a game short of this weekend’s national semifinals, losing by double digits to the long-time U.S. collegiate power, the University of Connecticut.
Even though UConn is the only team in the Final Four which is not a No. 1 seed, there is every reason to believe that the team could win its games on Friday and Sunday, and become the team to cut down the nets in Tampa.
A lot of the reason why UConn should be a favorite is Paige Bueckers, who is likely to be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming WNBA draft. There’s also the excellence of teammate Azzi Fudd, whose parents named her after Stanford basketball star Jennifer Azzi.
But if there is one player who could very well make a difference, it is a player with a great backstory.
Sarah Strong is a 6-foot-2 forward from Durham, N.C. who came to UConn as the top ranked recruit for the senior class of 2024. Thing is, she is very much from a basketball family. Her father, Danny, was a pro player overseas. Her mother also played overseas, but she made her mark in the United States.
Sarah Strong’s mother is Allison Feaster, who this site interviewed a quarter of a century ago when she was a player for the Charlotte Sting of the WNBA. She helped a Harvard team, back in the late 90s, to defeat the best college team in America, Stanford University in what was the first win by a 16 seed over a 1 seed in either gender of NCAA Division I basketball.
Sarah Strong has been a phenom not only at the prep level, but at the U-18 international level. She was on two 3×3 World Cup teams and helped the U.S. win gold at the 2024 U-18 FIBA AmeriCup.
As a freshman, Strong is second on the team in points per game, with 16.1. She leads the team in rebounds (333), steals (89), and blocked shots (62).
It’s pretty heady stuff, and I would not be surprised if she makes some sort of decisive play this weekend for the Huskies. Keep an eye on No, 21.