NEW YORK – UConn sophomore forward Sarah Strong was voted BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year, the league announced Tuesday. Teammate Kelis Fisher was selected BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year. 

In addition to the major awards, a 10-member Preseason All-BIG EAST Team was named, along with three Honorable Mention selections. Preseason major awards and all-league honors are chosen by the BIG EAST’s head coaches, who are not permitted to vote for their players. 

Strong heads into her sophomore season as one of the best players in the country following a successful first year as a Husky. The reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, Strong ranked second in program history in points (657), assists (142) and steals (92) for first-year Huskies. She is the NCAA record holder for most points in an NCAA Tournament by a freshman (114). The 10-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week led the team in rebounds (356), blocks (66) and steals, while finishing second in points and assists. Strong paced the team with 12 double-doubles and scored double figures in 37 games with 15 20-point games. Last season’s honors included: WBCA National Freshman of the Year, WBCA All-American, NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team, NCAA Spokane Region 4 All-Tournament Team, AP Second Team All-American, USBWA Third Team All-American. She was also named to the league’s first team and all-tournament team.

Fisher, a 5-9 freshman guard from Baltimore, Maryland, enters her rookie season as the No. 25 ranked recruit in ESPNW’s Class of 2025. She was named a 2025 Jordan Brand Classic All-American and led IMG Academy to its first Chipotle National Championship in 2025, scoring 25 points in the championship game. In September 2024, she competed in Overtime Select, leading ISO World to the championship game with 31 points and 11 rebounds in the semifinal game. Fisher is UConn’s sixth straight BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year following Strong (2024), KK Arnold (2023), Ayanna Patterson (2022), Azzi Fudd (2021), and Paige Bueckers (2020).

The Huskies led the conference with four Preseason All-BIG EAST Team selections – junior guard KK Arnold, graduate student guard Azzi Fudd, junior guard Ashlynn Shade and senior forward Serah Williams. Arnold made 40 appearances off the bench, averaging 5.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists last year.
 
Fudd’s 2024-25 accolades were nothing short of impressive, as she was named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player, a BIG EAST All-Tournament team member and an All-BIG EAST First Team honoree. She averaged 13.6 points per game and led the team with a 43.6 percent three-point shooting mark. In the NCAA Tournament, Fudd averaged 17.5 points per game and scored 24 points with five rebounds and three steals in the National Championship vs. South Carolina, reaching her 1,000th career point.
 
Shade, the 2025 BIG EAST Sixth Woman of the Year, shot 41.1% from three-point range last season. She appeared in all 40 games with 12 starts as she scored double digits in a dozen games. Williams comes from Wisconsin, where she was named to the 2025 All-Big Ten First Team and All-Defensive Team. Last season, she averaged a team-high 19.2 points per game in 30 appearances.

Marquette junior forward Skylar Forbes, junior guard Halle Vice and graduate student guard Lee Volker were all named to the preseason team. Forbes, a 2024-25 All-BIG EAST First Team member, averaged a team-high 15.8 points and 5.9 rebounds, starting in all 31 games. Forbes holds Marquette’s record for single-season blocks (56). Vice scored double digits last season 18 times, averaging 11.5 points per game. Vice finished the season first on the team shooting 49.8 percent (137-of-275) from the floor. Volker averaged career-bests last season in points (12.6), rebounds (4.6), assists (2.8) and steals (1.5), earning her a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team. Volker shot a career-best 41.5 percent (44-of-106) from the 3-point line, the third-highest percentage by a senior or graduate student in program history. 
 
Seton Hall had two players named to the preseason team: junior guard Savannah Catalon and sophomore guard Jada Eads. Catalon averaged 13.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.9 steals last season for the Pirates. She recorded 15 games scoring double digits and finished third in the BIG EAST with a .866 free-throw percentage. Eads became the program’s first freshman to be named to the All-BIG EAST First Team. She finished the year averaging 13.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in appearances. She was also named the 2024-25 MBWA Division I Rookie of the Year. She ranked second in BIG EAST games with 2.44 steals per game and eighth in points per game (15.9).
 
Villanova sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe rounds out the 10-member all-league team. Bascoe, a unanimous selection to the 2024-25 All-BIG EAST Freshman Team, set the Villanova freshman record for steals in a season (66) and scored double figures in 30 of the 34 games she played in.

Three players received Preseason All-BIG EAST Honorable Mentions: DePaul senior guard Kate Clarke, Georgetown senior guard Victoria Rivera and Xavier sophomore guard Meri Kanerva. Clarke averaged 11.9 points per game and had seven double-figure games in 11 appearances once returning from injury. Rivera had a starting role in 27 games for the Hoyas, averaging 10.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists, while posting 30 steals and six blocks last year. She ranked third on the team in scoring and led GU with 62 triples. Kanerva, a 2024-25 All-BIG EAST Freshman Team member, led the Musketeers in scoring (11.2) and assists (3.4) in 31 games. Her 346 total points ranked sixth in single-season school history by a freshman.

2025-26 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year – Sarah Strong, UConn, So., F
2025-26 BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year – Kelis Fisher, UConn, Fr., G


2025-26 BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Preseason All-BIG EAST Team
KK Arnold, UConn, Jr., G
Azzi Fudd, UConn, Gr., G *
Ashlynn Shade, UConn, Jr., G
Serah Williams, UConn, Sr., F *
Skylar Forbes, Marquette, Jr., F * 
Halle Vice, Marquette, Jr., G
Lee Volker, Marquette, Gr., G *
Savannah Catalon, Seton Hall, Jr., G *
Jada Eads, Seton Hall, So., G *
Jasmine Bascoe, Villanova, So., G *
 
Honorable Mention
Kate Clarke, DePaul, Sr., G
Victoria Rivera, Georgetown, Sr., G
Meri Kanerva, Xavier, So., G