Canadian freshmen hope to make their mark in women's March Madness and beyond

With athletes like Caitlin Clarke, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers battling it out in last year's women's NCAA March Madness tournament, 24 million viewers tuned in for the championship game.

It was an all-time high which surpassed the men's championship audience for the first time in history. 

That same season, the number of Canadian women competing in the tournament outnumbered the Canadian men 22 to 21.

But this year, a standout group of Canadian freshmen have not only made their way onto Division I rosters, but have made their names known across the league — further establishing the strength and promise of Canadian basketball programs.

On Friday the Hunger Games of college basketball will begin as 64 teams compete in the do-or-die 2025 NCAA women's basketball tournament.

WATCH | Canadians ready for March Madness:

Syla Swords, a freshman for the Michigan Wolverines, is now a starting point guard for the team, but growing up she imagined she'd compete for Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont., where both her parents played varsity basketball.

"My dad is the coach [at Laurentian], that's the gym I grew up in, and in my mind, that was the goal," Swords told CBC Sports. "Once I started getting recruited, watching the NCAA a little more, it started to get exciting." 

At age 18, Swords made history as the youngest Canadian Olympian to play for the senior women's basketball team at the Paris 2024 Games.

"I still remember walking to the gym for the first time with the senior team, seeing Natalie Achonwa, Kia Nurse, in the same gym, and thinking, 'Oh, I'm gonna have to guard them now,'" she said. 

"And then walking into the Olympic Village, seeing these seven-foot basketball players, seeing Giannis [Antetokounmpo], seeing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, these big NBA household names, and thinking, 'yeah, I'm a part of this.'"

After playing with the greatest hoopers in the world, Swords not only feels prepared for the high-stakes games of March Madness, she's aiming to upset the bracket. Michigan is the No. 6 seed in the Regional 3 bracket of the tournament.  

"I'm excited to be a Cinderella story. I don't think enough people know about what the University of Michigan women's basketball can do," she said. "We're such a special group of players." 

Also preparing for her March Madness debut is Toronto-born Toby Fournier, a 6-foot-3 forward for Duke who went viral for her ability to dunk already at age 14.