When talking about legends in women’s basketball, one name comes out right on top. And that is Breanna Stewart, aka “Stewie.” Currently, Stewart plays for the New York Liberty in the WNBA. She led her team to its first-ever championship in 2024. Stewart did it, averaging 19.4 points per game in the playoffs. That win was also her third WNBA title.
Oh, and let’s not forget that Stewart has also co-founded her own pro women’s league. But where did the hoops journey begin for Stewie?
Breanna Stewart’s College Career: From UConn Phenom to NCAA Legend
Stewart played for perhaps the most coveted team in women’s college basketball. She played for the UConn Huskies. In her first year alone, she had 497 points. Stewart even had a spot on the All-BIG EAST Freshman Team and was crowned Final Four Most Outstanding Player. And that was just year one!
By 2016, when she ended college, Stewart had pulled off something no other player in NCAA history had ever done. She had been named Final Four MOP four years in a row and was collecting awards like Pokémon cards.
Stewart even won the Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award, Wade Trophy, and USBWA Player of the Year. In 2016 alone, she cleaned house with nearly every major player of the year honour available. And yeah, she was a unanimous All-American.
Stewart also created a bunch of Huskies records in the process. Stewart stands second in all-time scoring with 2,676 points. She also has the most blocked shots in school history, 414. Stewart also had 133 double-digit scoring games and 65 where she scored at least 20. Stewie was consistent. But it’s not all about stats.
It was the way she owned the moment. Stewart’s final season at UConn was one to remember. She averaged career-highs with 8.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 126 blocks while shooting nearly 58% from the field. She was the first-ever unanimous AP Player of the Year and the only three-time winner.
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To top it all off, Stewart capped it off with her fourth NCAA title. With a college record of 151 wins and just five losses, Stewie left the court as a legend. And in 2016, the WNBA Draft came around; she was the No. 1 overall pick by the Seattle Storm. She spent offseasons playing internationally, hooping in China for Shanghai Baoshan Dahua, then Russia with Dynamo Kursk and UMMC Ekaterinburg.
Stewart later took her talents to Turkey with Fenerbahçe SK before joining the New York Liberty in 2023. And now, she plays for Mist BC. And to think all of this greatness started in Syracuse, New York, where a tall kid named Stewart dreamed big.
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