Why Breanna Stewart is the GOAT of March Madness

There cannot be a discussion about the greats of March Madness without including Breanna Stewart. When you think of who has made the most impact on the tournament and on women’s college basketball as a whole over the past 15 years, it’s Breanna Stewart. She is highly regarded as the best collegiate basketball player of all time, men’s or women’s, for her sustained success in the NCAA.

Stewart led UConn to four consecutive national championships. That was unheard of then, and it’s still unheard of now, a decade later. In two of her four seasons in college, UConn went undefeated in the entire regular season, conference tournament, and the March Madness tournament. Stewart only lost five games total in her entire four-season college career. In four years, Stewart averaged 17.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.7 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. Her career highs in single games in college were 37 points (Jan. 14, 2014), 16 rebounds (Feb. 14, 2015/Jan, 28, 2015), 10 assists (Dec. 9, 2015), 9 blocks (Jan. 23, 2016).

Throughout her college career, she also won a stack of awards and accolades. These are just the most prominent of them all:

• Big East All-Freshman Team (2013)
• First Team All-ACC (2014, 2015, 2016)
• ACC Tournament MVP (2014, 2016)
• ACC Player of the Year (2014, 2015, 2016)
• All-American, USWBA (2014, 2015, 2016)
• First team All-American, AP (2014, 2015, 2016)
• National Player of the Year, AP (2014, 2015, 2016)
• USBWA National Player of the Year (2014, 2015, 2016)
• Naismith National Player of the Year (2014, 2015, 2016)
• March Madness Most Outstanding Player (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)

She may not hold the record for most points or have scored 50 points in a game, but Stewart’s leadership and dominance came in the statistics that matter most to teams and players: winning. Winning four consecutive conference titles (one in the Big East and three in the ACC) and four National titles is one of the biggest flexes in sports. Some of the greatest women’s basketball players of all time didn’t even win a single National championship. Most men’s basketball players move on to the NBA without ever having won anything at the collegiate level.

Her dominance at UConn led to a shift in women’s college basketball, maybe a little consciously but mostly inconsciously. There has been such an influx of talent, but also a dispersing of talent across the country, that has made it hard for UConn to maintain the level of dominance since Stewart left. They only won their first national title since the Stewart-era in 2025 thanks to the efforts of Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Sarah Strong-led team. They may be on track to have their first undefeated season since Stewart played on the team this season, in 2026. Coincidentally, it marks a decade since Stewart’s last run as a UConn Husky as well.

This is why we may never see a collegiate run like Stewart’s again. There is so much parity in women’s college basketball now that the idea of one team winning four titles in a row seems entirely out of the realm of possibility. There is also so much talent on the individual level that the idea of a player being able to sustain the level of play needed to win as many NPOY awards as Stewart did also seems unlikely.

Stewart, of course, went on to have (and is still currently having) an incredible career. She has won at every level — WNBA championships, international league championships, both Olympic and World Cup gold. Yet, there is just something about her college run that still feels special and exciting a decade later.