Former UConn stars featured on The Ringer's list of WNBA mid-season award picks

With the WNBA season now past the midway point and pulling into the All-Star break, the postseason awards picture is starting to take shape and three former UConn women's basketball players are firmly in contention. 

The Ringer released a list of mid-season predictions for the WNBA's six individual regular-season awards Tuesday. Paige Bueckers, last year's Rookie of the Year winner, has vaulted into MVP contention just 60 games into her professional career, listed as runner-up for the award by The Ringer. 

Bueckers began the season at No. 4 overall in MVP betting odds, but a disappointing shooting campaign from co-favorite Caitlin Clark and fellow former Husky Breanna Stewart has allowed the Wings point guard to climb the ladder. Her raw statistical production has enjoyed a modest bump, but Bueckers' biggest improvements have come in her efficiency - the 24-year-old's .579 effective field goal percentage is up from .513 a year ago - and contributions to winning basketball, as the Wings boast a 17-7 record with Bueckers in the lineup. 

Both The Ringer and the betting market consider Bueckers a distant second to A'ja Wilson, who is leading the hunt for her third consecutive MVP award with a WNBA-best 25.6-point scoring average. However, should Wilson miss time or suffer a scoring slump down the stretch this season, Bueckers seems best positioned to capitalize. 

"Suffice to say: She's scaling up, especially when it matters the most," The Ringer writes about the former UConn great. "Bueckers is leading the league in clutch scoring, and she's powered six double-digit Dallas comebacks this season. The Wings are chasing home-court advantage in what will likely be their first postseason appearance of the Bueckers era, so every win matters."

Perhaps just as important to Dallas' dramatic turnaround this season, Azzi Fudd was selected No. 1 overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft and is also listed as a runner-up by The Ringer for Rookie of the Year. Fudd has immediately become one of the WNBA's most efficient scorers and has been a remarkably impactful defender, boasting the fifth-most steals and blocks of any player in the league this season. 

It's an impressive start to life in the pros for Fudd, but one that hardly compares to that of No. 2 pick Olivia Miles, who has led the Minnesota Lynx to a WNBA-best 21-6 record without star Napheesa Collier and currently ranks third among all players in player efficiency rankings. Instead, The Ringer has Fudd looking over her shoulder, writing that former South Carolina star Flau'jae Johnson is making up ground on the rookie leaderboard. 

The Ringer believes that one former Husky is positioned to win a postseason award at the mid-season mark: Gabby Williams. The French international signed with Golden State this offseason after leading the WNBA in steals, and while her raw defensive stats are down a bit, she's transformed the Valkyries into the league's top defensive unit and herself into a favorite for Defensive Player of the Year.

"She can guard every position and optimize every scheme, terrorizing ball handlers in traps and destabilizing bigs with quick doubles," The Ringer writes about Williams. "Opponents shoot 31.6 percent from the field with Williams as the primary defender, the third-best figure in the league among players who defend at least five possessions per game. That's despite the fact that she is taking on-and shutting down-the WNBA's best scorers, from Olivia Miles to Kelsey Mitchell."

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