LOS ANGELES, Calif. – UConn women's basketball redshirt senior Paige Bueckers and graduate student Azzi Fudd were named to the Wooden Award Preseason Women's Top 50 Watch List, as announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club Thursday.

Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for the most prestigious honors in college basketball, the Wooden Award All American Team and Most Outstanding Player Award.

Bueckers was selected as the preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year, a preseason AP-All-American and to the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list. She returns to UConn for a final season after leading the Huskies back to the NCAA Final Four in 2023-24. Bueckers was named to the 2024 WBCA, AP, USBWA and Wooden Award First Team All-America teams.

Bueckers led the Huskies with 21.9 points per game, 53 blocks and 86 steals and was one of the most efficient guards in the nation with a .530/.416/834 shooting split. The Hopkins, Minn., native totaled 854 points last season, the second most by a Husky in a single season all-time.

Fudd returns after missing the majority of the 2023-24 season to injury. Fudd averaged 15.1 points in 15 games in 2022-23. As a freshman, Fudd shot 43.0 percent from three-point range to lead the team. She was a 2021-22 BIG EAST All-Freshman Team selection.

Fudd is a preseason All-BIG EAST and Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watch list selection.

Bueckers and Fudd were both named to the Naismith Award watch list last month.

Seven Huskies have won the Naismith Trophy 11 times. Bueckers became the first freshman to win the award in 2021.

The Huskies open their 2024-25 season tonight against Boston University (1-0) at 7 p.m. in the XL Center. The game will air on SNY.