The Best Individual Runs in Women's March Madness History

Since its first edition in 1982, the Women's March Madness tournament has only improved with each passing year, and it has served up some amazing performances throughout its history.

From current LSU head coach Kim Mulkey winning the first-ever tournament as the starting point guard for Louisiana Tech over 40 years ago to the stars of today dominating headlines and TV ratings, the game has grown exponentially thanks to some of the players covered in this article.

Here, we're going through the greatest individual performances by players in a single March Madness run in an effort to acknowledge the players who stepped up in huge ways when the lights were brightest.

Honorable Mention: Sheryl Swoopes (1993)

Sheryl Swoopes was dominating March Madness before statisticians kept box scores for women's games, but one thing is clear: she caught fire on Sunday, April 4, 1993.

In a record that still stands for both Men's and Women's College Basketball, Swoopes scored 47 points for Texas Tech against Ohio State in the National Championship. No other player has scored more points in a National Championship game.

Texas Tech won 84-82, and that game capped Swoopes' then-record 177 total points in the 1993 tournament.

Caitlin Clark (2023)

Games	PTS	REB	AST	TOV	STL	BLK	FG%	3PT%
6	31.8	5.2	10.0	5.8	1.8	0.2	48.8	42.7

There's a good argument that Iowa Hawkeyes legend and global superstar Caitlin Clark is the greatest Women's College Basketball player to never win a National Championship.

Clark gained millions of fans during her career at Iowa thanks to her limitless shooting range and her unmatched ability to find teammates with a passing style similar to NBA superstars Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic.

While she and her teammates fell in the 2023 title game against LSU, Clark put the team on her back to get them that far. She averaged 31.8 points while shooting 42.7 percent from beyond the arc on a huge 12.5 three-point attempts per game during the tournament.

On the way to the championship game, Clark sparked impressive wins against Hailey Van Lith's Louisville and Aliyah Boston's South Carolina.

Angel Reese (2023)

Games	PTS	REB	AST	TOV	STL	BLK	FG%	3PT%
6	21.3	15.2	2.7	1.5	2.7	2.5	45.5	N/A

While LSU Tigers forward Angel Reese had to settle for being the second-most popular player in the 2023 tournament behind Clark, she makes the list thanks to her all-around game that lifted the Tigers to the National Championship.

In addition to grabbing double-digit rebounds in all six games in the 2023 edition of March Madness, Reese was dominant on the defensive end while taking more than 10 shots in each game on offense.

Reese's best game in the tournament was probably against Virginia Tech and 6-foot-6 center Elizabeth Kitley. Kitley had a monster game of her own with 18 points, 12 boards and seven blocks, but Reese had 24 points, 12 boards and three steals with only one turnover.

In the title game, Reese's efficiency dipped as she scored 15 points on 5/12 shooting, but she pulled down 10 rebounds, dished five assists and had three steals in a 17-point win over Clark and Iowa.

Diana Taurasi (2003)

Games	PTS	REB	AST	TOV	STL	BLK	FG%	3PT%
6	26.2	5.7	3.0	2.3	1.2	1.2	55.2	45.5

One of the first women's basketball superstars, Diana Taurasi among the first players to put UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma on the path to being one of the most successful basketball coaches in history.

The Huskies had two titles before Taurasi arrived in Storrs. By the time she graduated in 2004, UConn had five titles, putting Auriemma just one title short of legendary Tennessee head coach Pat Summit in the all-time leaderboard. Now, Auriemma is the most successful college basketball coach ever with 11 titles.

Taurasi was UConn's go-to player when the team needed a basket, and unlike in later years in which some Huskies teams cruised to National Championships, this edition found itself in some close contests.

The then-junior guard never scored less than 20 points in her six tournament games, and she dropped 26 in the Final Four and 28 in the title game.

Brittney Griner (2012)

Games	PTS	REB	AST	TOV	STL	BLK	FG%	3PT%
6	22.7	9.8	1.8	2.0	0.5	5.2	58.1	N/A

Brittney Griner had a dominant junior season at Baylor when she led the Bears to a 40-0 record and a National Championship.

Griner, a 6-foot-8 center, averaged an astounding 5.2 blocks for the tournament, including nine in the Elite Eight against Tennessee. And she never seriously entered foul trouble - the most fouls she committed in a tournament game was three.

In the title game against Notre Dame, she scored 26 points on 11/16 shooting — despite constantly drawing double teams, even without the ball — and also added 13 rebounds and five blocks.

Even more impressive is the fact that she played 39 minutes in two games and all 40 minutes in the Final Four against Stanford.

Breanna Stewart (2016)

Games	PTS	REB	AST	TOV	STL	BLK	FG%	3PT%
6	20.3	11.0	3.7	2.2	2.3	3.2	56.6	47.8

Breanna Stewart won almost as many National Championships (four) in her time at UConn as the number of games she lost in her collegiate career (five).

Her best effort en route to a title was in her senior year. None of UConn's tournament games were decided by single digits, and Stewie was the main reason for the Huskies' dominance.

Stewart had four double-doubles in her six tournament games. In the tournament-opening 101-49 blowout win over Robert Morris, she had 18 points, five rebounds, four assists, eight steals and three blocks in just 20 minutes of play.

Stewart was consistent throughout the tournament, scoring between 16 and 24 points in each game.

In the final, where UConn beat Syracuse 82-51, she had her least efficient shooting performance (7/17, 41.2 percent) but still scored 24 points thanks to 7/7 shooting from the free-throw line. She also grabbed 10 boards and dished out a personal tournament-high six assists.

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