The Naismith Trophy Player of the Year watch list was released on Thursday with 50 players. South Carolina has three players on the list (Chloe Kitts, Tessa Johnson, and Joyce Edwards), LSU has three on the list (Milaysia Fulwiley, Jada Williams, and Mikaylah Williams), and UConn is the third school with three players named (KK Arnold, Blanca Quiñonez, and Sarah Strong).
The Big Ten had 14 players named to the watch list, which was the most of any conference. Lauren Whittaker (Gonzaga) was the only mid-major player named on the watch list, and she comes from the Pac-12.
Speaking of the Pac-12, they released their media preseason poll, and Gonzaga topped the poll with 16 of the 19 first-place votes. Oregon State received one first-place vote and sits 2nd on the poll, while San Diego State is in third but has two first-place votes. Each team had two players selected to the "2026-27 Pac-12 Women's Basketball Impact List."
There were 21 exhibition games on Thursday evening, which marked the last big evening of games before the regular season started.
The big one was the Baylor vs. Texas showdown that took place after Eastern New Mexico dropped out of playing the Longhorns due to only having six available players and playing Houston the evening before.
Texas won the exhibition 85-64, but Baylor was not at full strength in the game. Baylor was without Taliah Scott, as she has a sprained ankle, but that does not make the Longhorns' win any less solid.
Texas saw five players enter double figures, headlined by Zya Vann, who scored 18 points after knocking down all six 3-pointers that she took. Breya Cunningham and Madison Booker both had 12 points, and Jada Clark and Addison Bjorn each finished with 11 points.
Baylor was led by Trinity Turner with 20 points in the game. Reese Ross was the other player in double-figures with 13 points. Both teams looked to play nearly everyone on their bench, and both were able to get double-digit players into the contest.
You can see the scores of the exhibition games, along with most of the box scores here: SPREADSHEET.
The Katrina McClain Award watch list came out on Thursday. This list is a collection of power forwards who are on the watch list for the 2027 award as named by the Naismith Hall of Fame and the WBCA.
We are creating a WBB app (more information below), and you can now vote as a BUR member in the WBB BUR Top 25 poll HERE.
Recent Content at Basket Under Review
Skim Milkey takes a look at which Top-10 teams could "Pack Their Bag" in the NCAA Tournament.
Skim Milkey previews the SWAC and breaks down each team heading into 2026-27.
Skim Milkey previews the Sun Belt and breaks down each team heading into 2026-27.
News and Notes
The Basket Under Review app is available for download on the Google Play Store! The WBB portion is under construction, and the plan will be to have it done within the next month.
If you are an Apple/iOS user, you can download the TestFlight version of the app here: https://testflight.apple.com/join/sTwECNxQ
The app will be available on the Apple App Store soon.
If you notice any glitches or mistakes or have any feedback on the games, please email us at administrator@basketunderreview.com.
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