NCAA women's preview: Long Island quartet have national high profiles

It’s still a long way to March Madness and the eventual crowning of a national champion for the 2025-26 women’s college basketball season.

Before that happens, four players with Long Island ties will be playing on teams ranked in The Associated Press preseason Top 25. Each is expected to play a key role for their teams.

Former Long Island Lutheran stars Kayleigh Heckel, Syla Swords and Kate Koval, and Bay Shore’s Kaylene Smikle are players to watch this season. They provide some Long Island flavor to the national scene.

Reigning national champion UConn starts the season ranked No. 1 and is a serious threat to repeat, despite losing Paige Bueckers to the WNBA. Coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies return stars Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd, and other key players. Auriemma also added former Wisconsin star Serah Williams and Heckel from the transfer portal.

Heckel, a sophomore guard, averaged 6.1 points, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals in 34 games, including seven starts, for USC during her freshman season. USC lost to UConn in the Elite Eight last season.

“Actually, I was a big fan of hers in high school and we kind of went separate directions with her going out west to USC,” Auriemma told Newsday at Big East media day in October. “I’d always liked how aggressive she played, [and] I liked her intensity level, her quickness on and off the ball.

“When I saw her play at USC, I thought we could use a little bigger guard, one that’s offensive-minded and can still pick up full-court pressure. And she’s fit right in with our team.”

Heckel grew up in Port Chester in Westchester County. She was a two-time Newsday All-Long Island first-team selection.

“I’m from New York, and when I heard UConn was a possibility when I was changing schools, it was really exciting for me, especially being able to play closer to home,” Heckel said over the summer. “I went all the way to USC for my first year, so I think it was cool to be able to come back home and have some of my family at the games.”

Auriemma expects Heckel to be a two-way threat for the Huskies.

“That’s her mindset,” he said “Her mindset is always to make a play, whether it’s get a steal defensively, get a bucket [or] get an assist. There’s very little that I’m trying to impose upon her, just that she should be able to be involved in every single possession. And she wants to be.”

Swords, now a sophomore, had a huge impact for Michigan during a sensational freshman season. She was an All-Big Ten player, averaging 16 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.2 steals in 33 games, all starts. She was selected to the 2025-26 preseason All-Big Ten team by the coaches and media.

Michigan begins the season ranked No. 13 in the AP poll. Swords, along with reigning co-Big Ten freshman of the year Olivia Olson, and reigning Patriot League player of the year Ashley Sofilkanich, who transferred from Bucknell, should have the Wolverines contending for a Big Ten title and possibly more this season.

Swords, a two-time Newsday All-Long Island first-team selection, told the Big Ten Network at the conference’s media day in October that her experience playing for Canada’s senior national team prepared her for college basketball in America and taught her not to be afraid of failure. Swords was 18 years old when she became the youngest Canadian basketball player to compete in the Olympics in 2024.

“I would just say it’s probably the situations I’ve been in, growing up through the Canada basketball system, being a hooper from Canada, you’re not expected to do so many things on the American stage,” Swords said.

Koval, Newsday’s two-time player of the year, transferred to LSU from Notre Dame. The Tigers, ranked No. 5 in the AP poll to start the season, lost four frontcourt players to the transfer portal, so the addition of Koval was a key for coach Kim Mulkey.

“I’m excited about our post play,” Mulkey said at SEC media day in October. “We have five players that have never put on an LSU uniform. It’s fun to watch them battle every day.”

Koval, a 6-5 sophomore forward, played in 32 games, including 10 starts, for the Irish last season, averaging 5.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and an eye-catching 1.7 blocks.

Mulkey’s history of developing post players should bode well for Koval. Mulkey coached Brittney Griner at Baylor, and has coached Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso, and Aneesah Morrow at LSU. All four are playing in the WNBA.

Smikle was an All-Big Ten player for Maryland last season as a junior. She was a two-way terror for the Terps, leading the team in scoring at 17.9 points per game and steals (50). She was selected to the 2025-26 preseason All-Big Ten team by the coaches and media.

The coaches and media picked Maryland to finish second in the Big Ten behind UCLA. The Terps are ranked No. 10 in the AP poll.

Smikle transferred to Maryland from Rutgers.

“I’m capable of hard things,” Smikle told the Big Ten Network at the conference’s media day in October. “I know coach Brenda [Frese] told me to come in, just kind of be myself, don’t change who I am, just play in the flow of the game. Maryland’s a transition team and I thrive in transition, so it wasn’t really a hard transition coming to Maryland because that’s the style they play.”

Columbia didn’t make the AP Preseason Top 25 but received two votes. The Lions finished 24-7 last season, shared the Ivy League title, and beat Washington in the NCAA Tournament’s First Four. Columbia was picked second behind Princeton in this season’s Ivy League preseason poll.

Riley Weiss, a two-time Newsday All-Long Island first-team selection who played at Hewlett High School through her junior season, is expected to be among the Ivy League’s best players this season. Weiss, a junior guard, was an All-Ivy League first-team performer last season, averaging 17.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.1 steals.

Fairfield didn’t receive any votes in the AP poll, but the Stags have played in the last two NCAA Tournaments and are once again the favorite to win the MAAC.

Meghan Andersen, a Wantagh native who played for Our Lady of Mercy, was an All-MAAC first-team selection last season for Fairfield, averaging 14.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 steals. Andersen, a junior, was selected as the MAAC preseason player of the year for this season.

Janelle Brown, a graduate student from Middle Island and former Longwood High School star, tore her ACL last season and appeared in only eight games for the Stags, averaging 8.3 points. Brown, however, is back this season and was named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Nancy Lieberman Award watch list, which highlights the top 20 point guards in the country.

Newsday’s Roger Rubin contributed to this story.