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The cast for the Sweet 16 of the 2024 Women's March Madness is now complete with South Carolina, Iowa, USC, Texas, Notre Dame, Stanford, UCLA, LSU, Oregon State, NC State, UConn, Indiana, Gonzaga, Baylor, Colorado and Duke making it after two grueling rounds of hard-fought action.
These squads have the opportunity to go all the way and win the national championship. However, they would not be in this situation if not for their standout players, who helped them secure the Sweet 16 slots.
Here are the five standout stars that fans should watch out for in the next stage of the NCAA women's basketball tournament.
Top 5 Players to Watch Out for in the Women's Sweet 16
#1 Caitlin Clark
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The heart and soul of the Iowa Buckeyes continues her record-setting season. Weeks after breaking the scoring records of Kelsey Plum, Lynette Woodard, and Pete Maravich, Clark keeps piling up the points and wins to lead Iowa to their first-ever NCAA women's basketball title.
In the first round against No. 16 Holy Cross, Clark tallied 27 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds to lead the Hawkeyes to a 91-65 win over the Crusaders. The next round saw her face a tougher opponent in No. 8 West Virginia but she stepped up and scored 32 points to help Iowa take out the Mountaineers, 64-54.
Clark, who is projected to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, continues to lead the Hawkeyes this postseason, with averages of 29.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game. Her performances in the first two rounds remain consistent from the regular season, despite tougher looks at the basket.
#2 Angel Reese
A year after leading LSU to the 2023 national championship, Reese remains the most reliable Lady Tiger in Kim Mulkey's frontcourt corps. Though her stats are a bit down from last season, the 6-foot-3 forward is the biggest reason LSU is still in the thick of the fight in this year's March Madness.
Reese did a yeoman's job of protecting the paint in the Lady Tigers' first-round win against Rice, pulling down 19 rebounds and tallied 10 points, three steals and one block. She stepped it up in the second round against a taller Middle Tennessee State, tallying 20 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.
In the first two rounds, Reese has averaged 15.0 points, 15.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals, 1.5 assists and one block. The overall postseason production remains great for Reece despite struggling on her field goals at 29.2%.
#3 Kamilla Cardoso
The 6-foot-7 Brazilian center is one of the big reasons for South Carolina's unbeaten run this season. Kamilla Cardoso has efficiently defended the paint, altered shots and produced great numbers in the star-studded Gamecocks crew.
Despite playing for an average of 25.1 minutes per game, Cardoso produced stellar numbers for the Dawn Staley-helmed South Carolina at 13.9 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 2.6 bpg and 2.1 apg. She has shot a career-high 58.4% from the field.
Coming back from a one-game fighting suspension, the Brazilian was on her efficient self in the second round. She tallied 12 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and one block in 25 minutes to help South Carolina prevail over No. 8 North Carolina, 88-41.
#4 JuJu Watkins
Watkins has carried USC to the 2024 March Madness despite being in her first year in college and she has not stopped from there.
The 6-foot-2 freshman has picked up her game in the first two rounds of the NCAA women's basketball tournament, averaging 25.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks per contest. She opened her postseason account, tallying 23 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and four blocks to lift the Lady Trojans to an 87-55 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Watkins stepped it up in USC's 73-55 second-round win over Kansas with a double-double of 28 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals in 37 minutes.
#5 Paige Bueckers
Paige Bueckers has been more than impressive in her third season with the UConn Huskies. The 6-foot guard has put up 21.8 ppg on 54.0% shooting from the field. She can also contribute on both sides of the court, as she averages 5.1 rpg, 3.9 apg, 2.2 spg and 1.4 bpg.
Bueckers is the most consistent player this season for the injury-riddled UConn and she proved it in the first two rounds of the Women's March Madness. In the first round against Jackson State, Bueckers returned with 28 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and one block.
The guard stepped it up against No. 6 Syracuse as she played the whole game and tallied 32 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, four steals and a block. Bueckers' heroics helped UConn secure their 30th-straight Sweet 16 appearance.
