0 Photo Credit: SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
On Sunday evening, Virgin Islander Aliyah Boston and South Carolina learned that they are the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s Women’s Basketball NCAA Tournament which will begin this weekend.
South Carolina will open up against either Howard or Incarnate Word on Friday and will play in the Greensboro region.
They will then face the winner between Miami and the University of South Florida on Sunday.
The biggest threat to South Carolina making a return trip to the national semifinals will be the No. 2 seed in their region, Iowa. Iowa’s star player Caitlin Clark and Boston are both top contenders to be the national player of the year.
South Carolina may run into a team that USVI fans are familiar with: Arizona, which won the Island Division in this season’s Paradise Jam hosted at the University of the Virgin Islands in November.
At time of writing, game times were not yet announced. The games of the NCAA Women’s tournament will be televised on the ESPN family of networks.
The other No. 1 seeds in this year’s tournament are NC State, who South Carolina beat 66-57 in their first game of the season; Stanford, who South Carolina beat 66-51 in December; and Louisville .
The Gamecocks went 29-2 this season, won the Southeastern Conference regular season title but were upset by Kentucky 64-62 in the SEC Tournament championship game.
South Carolina's head coach, Dawn Staley was asked by ESPN what she thinks the difference is between this year's team and last year’s, which lost to Stanford in the national semifinals. “It’s the experience of the heartbreak… they have that feeling of what it felt like to lose the way we lost in the final four. Now they’ve come back this year and taken on all challenges," Staley said.
Boston was the SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. She was also a member of both the All-SEC Team and All-SEC defensive team.
Boston’s teammate, senior point guard Destanni Henderson was named to the conference’s first team and Staley was the SEC Coach of the Year.
Boston led South Carolina in scoring with 16.8 points, 12 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game.
Boston set the record for the most consecutive double-doubles for an SEC player with 20 straight double-doubles against Texas A&M in late February, and has since extended that streak to 24. She will have the opportunity to make it 25 straight double-doubles during Friday’s game.
