Women’s 2026 Final Four players to watch: Sarah Strong, Joyce Edwards, more
PHOENIX — The first game of the Final Four will be a rematch of last year’s national championship. A battle between two of the sport’s elite programs, South Carolina and UConn. But it will also be the next chapter in the Joyce Edwards versus Sarah Strong “rivalry.
” The post players are not only two of the best sophomores in the country — Strong was the top player in the 2024 class, and Edwards was No. 3, according to ESPN — but they also grew up playing against each other. Strong played high school basketball at Grace Christian Sanford in North Carolina, and Edwards played at Camden High School in South Carolina.
Their proximity first brought them together at a middle school camp and continued into the AAU and prep circuits. “She’s a really good player, definitely tough to guard,” Strong said. “We were making each other better so I was happy.
” Friday’s game will be their third matchup in college. UConn won the first two meetings, both last season, including last year’s championship game, when Strong had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Edwards had 10 points and five rebounds. Edwards described their matchups as “iron sharpening iron.
” “I feel like we will look back on this in the future, maybe 20 or 30 years from now and think about how crazy, if you want to call it a rivalry or whatever, it’s going to be a good opportunity to showcase both of our skill sets,” Edwards said. While Strong and Edwards will take the spotlight on Friday, a host of players from the 2024 class have been shining on the big stage. Texas has two sophomores in Jordan Lee and Justice Charton, two top-15 players in the class.
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