Aliyah Boston
St. Thomas Native Aliyah Boston has led the South Carolina GameCocks to Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Women's Basketball Tournament, bringing a solid performance that saw Ms. Boston scoring 27 points with 10 rebounds Sunday.
The team went on a third-quarter late run to take control of the game, beating 16th ranked Georgia Bulldogs 67-62.
Ms. Boston had three double-double performances during the tournament. She spoke to ESPN after the game and thanked her teammates. She also thanked the fans who came out to support. "We heard you guys the entire game," she said. The Georgia Bulldogs is a very strong team, which Ms. Boston said her team took note of. "We knew we had to come out and give it our all and I'm really proud of our team."
It wasn't an easy game. The bulldogs, with Que Morrison who had 20 points, brought a strong challenge. A three-pointer by Morrison with only 14.4 second left closed the lead 65-62. But Ms. Boston followed with two points by making a pair of foul shots, which dashed the hopes of Georgia and led South Carolina to its 14th straight win over the Bulldogs.
To win the game, Ms. Boston said, "We had to make every possession count and we had to be deliberate the whole game."
The teams now await details from the NCAA Tournament
Boston became the only player to record multiple triple doubles at South Carolina when she had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks in a win against Georgia in late January. Her first triple double of collegiate career came in her first game after she had 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks against Alabama State.
The Gamecocks ended last season as the No. 1 in the rankings but were unable to compete in the NCAA tournament to cement themselves as the national champions because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Boston has been a major part of the Gamecocks' success since she has arrived in Columbia, and was the consensus National Freshman of the Year, Lisa Leslie Center of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. This year, she was one of two unanimous selections on the Preseason AP All-American Team.
Boston was named to the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 in February.
