Top 3 Big East freshman performances so far: Sarah Strong, Jada Eads and more

It has not been a banner year for the Big East Conference.

While UConn is always a force to be reckoned with in women's college basketball, only one other team from the league is currently in the national rankings. As it stands now, only those two teams are poised to make the tournament.

The conference has a bit of growing up to do, but luckily, the Big East is littered with young players who are ready to take their teams to new heights.

1. Sarah Strong, F, UConn

Strong has been a key contributor this season for one of college basketball's best teams. She is currently averaging 16.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. The Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina product also gets it done on the defensive end, averaging 2.3 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.

Her best performance of the season was against the University of Southern California, which was ranked No. 7 nationally at the time. Strong collected 22 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, and four steals back in December, but also put together strong performances against nationally-ranked foes Creighton and Tennessee.

2. Jasmine Bascoe, G, Villanova

While Villanova has been just slightly above average this season, Bascoe has been a bright spot for the Wildcats. She is ninth in the league in scoring at 15.7 points per game and leads the conference in assists with 4.5 per game. Bascoe also does the little things, putting together 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game.

Bascoe's best performance came against Xavier where she scored 25 points and added seven assists and four steals in a win. She is one of the best 3-point shooters in the country and it won't be long until the Milton, Ontario native is considered one of the best guards in the country.

3. Jada Eads, G, Seton Hall

Seton Hall has had a tremendous season in large part due to the duo of Eads and Faith Masonius. Eads, just a freshman, is 11th in the conference in scoring with 14.6 points per game and averages 4.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game as well.

Her best performance of the year was back in January against Georgetown when she scored 27 points and added seven assists, four rebounds and four steals. She can fill it up in a hurry from beyond the arc and the Orlando, Florida native is just getting started. If she can be a bit more efficient while scoring the basketball and become more of a distributor in her later years, she could have a nice career ahead of her.