March Madness: 10 players with Long Island ties in the NCAA women's basketball tournament
Michigan guard Syla Swords drives on Iowa center Ava Heiden in the first half of a Big Ten Tournament semifinal on Mar. 7 in Indianapolis. Credit: AP/Michael Conroy
Meet the 10 women’s basketball players with Long Island roots who will compete in the 2026 NCAA Tournament:
Meghan Andersen, Fairfield
The junior guard from Wantagh was second on the Stags with an average of 16.0 points per game. Andersen scored 40 points in Fairfield’s 109-48 rout of Marist on Feb. 5.
First game: Andersen’s 11th-seeded Stags will meet fifth-seeded Notre Dame on Saturday in the Fort Worth Regional.
Taryn and Taylor Barbot, Charleston
The twin guards from Floral Park, who both played at St. Mary's High School, totaled more than half their team's points in the CAA final at Hofstra to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Taryn (19.6) and Taylor (11.4) are the team's top two scorers.
First game: No. 14 Charleston faces No. 3 Duke on Friday in the Sacramento regional.
Janelle Brown, Fairfield
A guard from Middle Island, Brown played in 26 games in 2025-26, starting 15. The grad student averaged 6.0 points, 3.2 assists and 2.8 rebounds.
First game: Eleventh-seeded Fairfield will take on fifth-seeded Notre Dame on Saturday in the Fort Worth Regional.
Paris Clark, Virginia
A Long Island Lutheran product, Clark played in 30 games this season, starting 29, for the Cavaliers. The 5-8 guard averaged 9.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
First game: The 10th-seeded Cavaliers will meet 10th-seeded Arizona State in a First Four contest on Thursday.
Shy Hawkins, Syracuse
A 6-2 wing from William Floyd, Hawkins, played in 31 games, starting 17, and averaged 5.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 15.9 minutes.
First game: The ninth-seeded Orange tip off against eighth-seeded Iowa State on Saturday in the Fort Worth Regional.
Kayleigh Heckel, UConn
Heckel, a reserve guard from Long Island Lutheran, is a spark off the bench for the Huskies. The sophomore averaged 6.9 points, 2.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 34 games.
First game: The Huskies, the tournament’s overall top seed, open against the 16th-seeded University of Texas at San Antonio in the Fort Worth Regional.
Kate Koval, LSU
Koval, who played for Long Island Lutheran, averaged 8.5 points in 32 games. The sophomore forward had 6.2 rebounds a game.
First game: The second-seeded Tigers tip off against 15th-seeded Jacksonville on Friday in the Sacramento Regional.
Olivia Medford, High Point
Medford, a Long Island Lutheran product, played in 14 games as a redshirt senior. The guard averaged 5.4 minutes and 1.9 points per game.
First game: Fifteenth-seeded High Point begins tournament play Saturday against second-seeded Vanderbilt in the Fort Worth Regional.
Syla Swords, Michigan
The 6-foot sophomore guard who played at Long Island Lutheran was named by both the conference’s coaches and the media to the Big Ten preseason team. She lived up to their expectations by averaging 14.5 points per game and leading the Wolverines in minutes played with 33.7 per contest.
First game: The second-seeded Wolverines tip off against 15th-seeded Holy Cross on Friday in the Fort Worth Regional.
Maryland’s Kaylene Smikle announced in December that she would have season-ending knee surgery. The guard from Bay Shore averaged 13.1 points per game.
