Basketball

AHEAD OF THE GAME

Freshman Aliyah Boston blossoms into star player By Josh Hyber | Staff writer • Photos by Jenny Dilworth and Allen Sharpe

Aliyah Boston made her South Carolina regular-season debut on Nov. 5.

On Nov. 15, just 10 days later, Dawn Staley was asked how the freshman compared to where A’ja Wilson and Alaina Coates — arguably the two most decorated players in program history and both WNBA first round draft picks — were at that point in their careers.

“I know A’ja and Alaina, they’re probably going to shoot me a mean text after I say this, but [Aliyah’s] ahead of them,” the Gamecock head coach said. “Here’s why: the communication piece. A’ja and Alaina had older players that they took the backseat to.

“Aliyah is just being Aliyah. She’s just calling what she sees.”

That, the coach said, is without factoring in skillset. That, of course, Boston also has.

Through South Carolina’s first nine games (all starts), the center averaged 14.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game. By comparison, Wilson averaged 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game through her first nine career games.

She’s just a player that understands that she has to impose her will every single time we step on the floor. No matter what the competition, she doesn’t play down. She’s always going to give 110 percent.

– DAWN STALEY

One of 20 nominees for the Lisa Leslie Award — given to the nation’s top center — Boston won three of the first four SEC Freshman of the Week awards. “I thought she should have been Freshman of the Week and Player of the Week,” Staley said after the first of the three conference awards.

She was also named MVP of the Paradise Jam after scoring a career-high 20 points and grabbing 13 rebounds against No. 2 Baylor. Through eight games Boston was first in the SEC in field goal percentage (.726) and blocked shots (26), nine more than the second-ranked player. She was also the only player at the time to have a triple-double. Not only was it a triple-double, it was a triple-double in her college debut. Against Alabama State on Nov. 5, Boston led the Gamecocks to a blowout victory with 12 points, 12 rebounds (seven offensive) and 10 blocks. She also had three steals.

It was the seventh triple-double in program history and the first by a freshman. It was also the most blocks in a game by a freshman and tied for the most blocks in a game by one player overall.

Boston swatted her 10th block midway through the fourth quarter and left the game moments later to a rousing ovation. “My teammates, they were able to get me the ball and I was able to produce for them,” the center said. “And then everything else just fell into place.

“… I had no idea [about a triple-double], and then coach was like, ‘You’re two blocks away.’ And then that happened.”

It wasn’t just a stat-stuffing performance against a lesser opponent.

Five days later on the road against then No. 4 Maryland she had 14 points, seven rebounds and five blocks in a 63-54 win. “It was exciting. Defensively, I think I was just there,” Boston said after the game. “I think I did great blocking and rebounding.”

Staley and Gamecock point guard Ty Harris, sitting alongside her, laughed.

The 6-5 Boston was then asked about her block total.

“I was just where I needed to be, dropping over where I needed to,” she said. “I think it worked great because we were able to get out in transition and go get easy baskets.”

“I think she has a real sense of the game,” Staley said. “She has real great recollection of

what she’s heard in scouting reports and what she’s heard in preparation. And she’s able to execute in games.

“And being a great shot blocker isn’t just being in the right place at the right time. It’s knowing you’re in the right place at the right time and not really guessing.”

“It’s just natural for her,” senior Mikiah Herbert Harrigan said.

Staley was asked two days later if she thought Boston would have so much success early in her career.

“No. [But] I knew she was highly intelligent [and] I knew she understood basketball,”

the coach said. “Our conversations were always a little more in-depth than your regular high school player.”

Staley said Boston has been such a vocal leader on the court that it helped the Gamecocks, as a team, perform better on the defensive end.

“She’s pretty much been the ringleader [on defense],” the coach said.

The praise continued as the dominating performances mounted.

Against Appalachian State and its 6-4 center Bayley Plummer, Boston had 14 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

“She looks at her matchup, she studies it and she sees edges in which she can create an advantage for herself,” Staley said.

Then, 18 points and 10 rebounds in just 17 minutes against USC Upstate.

“She’s a focal point for us, getting her the ball in the paint,” Staley said. “But when we don’t get her the ball in the paint, she rebounds. She’s been very consistent rebounding the ball.

“She’s just a player that understands that she has to impose her will every single time we step on the floor. No matter what the competition, she doesn’t play down. She’s always going to give 110 percent.”

Added the coach after the Maryland performance, “She’s blossoming. … She’s got a promising future. This is just the tip of the iceberg for her.”

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Gamecock soccer has another memorable season, makes second Elite Eight run in three seasons ELITE AGAIN

Mikayla Krzeczowski thanked her teammates and told the younger ones, “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

Elexa Bahr did the same. Grace Fisk pointed out how she couldn’t believe how close-knit the team was and told its returning players how much they have to look forward to.

“I don’t know if I want to talk about that because I’d get too emotional,” South Carolina head coach Shelley Smith said of the scene following her team’s season-ending loss. “It was very touching. “All of us just thanked each other.”

They had much to be thankful for.

Just this season, South Carolina (19-2-3, 7-0-3 in the SEC) reached the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, won the SEC Tournament title for the first time in a decade and didn’t lose a single game against an SEC opponent. “To make it to this point, obviously we fell a little short, but we played longer than a lot of teams,” Smith said. “This is our goal, to put ourselves in these positions, to compete for championships. And this team won an SEC championship, put itself in a position to win a national By Josh Hyber and Brandon Alter • Photos by Allen Sharpe

championship and gave it their all. I couldn’t ask for more.”

Krzeczowski was named SEC Goalkeeper of the Year and finished her career with 50 shutouts, the third-most in NCAA history, while Fisk earned her third SEC Defender of the Year award.

The season saw the continued brilliance of Krzeczowski and Fisk — program legends who can each make a case to be carved on the program’s Mount Rushmore — as well as the continued improvement of Bahr, Ryan Gareis and Luciana Zullo in the attacking third and the steady play of Lauren Chang in the midfield. Riley Tanner, Sutton Jones and Jyllissa Harris were intro

30 NCAA TOURNAMENT duced as future stars, while transfer Anna Patten came in and was a force alongside Fisk in the central defense.

For South Carolina coaches, players and fans it will be a season they can look back on and remember fondly.

The Gamecocks began the season ranked No. 15 in the country and came from behind to win the season opener against No. 21 NC State. The win sparked a six-game win streak that featured three goals in six minutes to beat William & Mary, a 6-0 rout of Jacksonville State and a sweep of the Purdue Invitational with wins over the Boilermakers and DePaul.

The Gamecocks soared to No. 7 in the national rankings.

Then there was a bit of a low. South Carolina had its only regular season loss, 1-0, at archrival Clemson, a team that was ranked No. 20 in the country at the time. Despite the loss, the Gamecocks quickly rebounded with a 3-0 win over Georgia to start SEC play.

Things could have gone downhill fast for the Garnet and Black when they found them

This team won an SEC championship, put itself in a position to win a national championship and gave it their all. I couldn’t ask for more.

– SHELLEY SMITH

selves down 2-0 at Alabama in its first road SEC game after just 23 minutes. But the Gamecocks responded emphatically and scored five straight goals to win 5-2.

South Carolina allowed just two goals the rest of the way in SEC play.

The Gamecocks then beat No. 13 Arkansas 1-0 at home after a late goal by Harris in what became a preview of the SEC title match.

Maintaining the No. 7 ranking, they played a scoreless draw at home against unranked Vanderbilt. Days later, they let in a goal with 56 seconds left to go from a 1-0 win to a 1-1 draw at home against unranked and struggling Tennessee.

Those games changed the season. But for the better.

“I think on our way to the SEC Tournament, I feel like through those challenges, where we had those ties, some teams would be, ‘Ugh, this is where we fall apart.’ I think that is where we really fell together as a team,” Chang said. “And I think that was my favorite part about this whole season.”

While those draws knocked it out of winning the division, South Carolina still had a chance to win the regular-season conference championship heading into the final game. Though the Gamecocks did their job beating Auburn 2-0, they did not get the help they needed to win the SEC. The following week, proved they were the best in the conference by winning the SEC Tournament without allowing a single goal.

Then came three shutout wins in the NCAA Tournament — 3-0 over Samford, 1-0 over Notre

Ryan Gareis

Dame and 2-0 over Kansas — before a 1-0 season-ending overtime loss to Washington State in the Elite Eight.

“It’s a difficult time,” Smith said. “But we always have players working behind [our seniors] to make this program that much better than where they left it.”