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It was announced on Monday night that St. Thomas native Aliyah Boston and South Carolina were awarded one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament and will play Mercer on Sunday at 6 on ESPN to begin their tournament during the Women’s NCAA Selection Show.
The Gamecocks went 22-4 this season and played a difficult schedule. Three of their losses this season were against some of the top contenders for the national title in very competitive games. They lost to two of the other No. 1 seeds, UConn 63-59 in overtime in February and NC State in early December 54-46. They also lost to a No. 2 seed, Texas A&M, 65-57 in late February.
The won the SEC Tournament by defeating Georgia 67-62 in a game where Ms. Boston scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds.
64 teams make the women’s NCAA tournament and are split into four regions, with each region being seeded 1-16. 31 teams automatically qualified by winning their conference tournament and 33 teams earned at-large berths to the tournament.
The tournament will take place in Texas with three of the venues being in San Antonio, one of the venues in San Marcos and another venue in Austin. The final will be played on April 4th in the Alamodome.
Every game during the tournament will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC or ESPNU.
This season Ms. Boston has started in all of South Carolina's 26 games this season she has averaged 13.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and recorded 2.85 blocks per game. Her rebounds and blocked shot numbers rank her in the Top 15 for those categories nationally. She had 15 double-doubles this season, tied for ninth most in the country. Her season high in points, 28, came against Florida in December.
With her post presence, South Carolina leads the nation in blocks per game with 7.1 a contest and is fourth in the nation in rebounds per game.
She is under consideration for three national player of the year awards. Ms. Boston is one of 15 players in the country on the 2021 Wooden Award Ballot. The finalists for the 2021 Wooden Award will be announced on March 26. She is a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy and on the most recent watchlist for the Wade Trophy.
Additionally, she is a semifinalist for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and in the Lisa Leslie Award, which she won last year and is awarded to the best center in women’s college basketball, Top 5. She is one of the top players in her conference and is The SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year and an All-SEC First-Team selection.
Ms. 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. She is one of 13 players in women’s college basketball to record a triple-double this season.
South Carolina won the SEC Postseason Championship both of Ms. Boston’s seasons for the Gamecocks.
The Gamecocks ended last season at 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. This season they will get that chance.
Ms. 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 and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. This year, she was one of two unanimous selections on the Preseason AP All-American Team.
