Aliyah Boston had 23 points and 18 rebounds to back up her AP National Player of the Year award and carry South Carolina to the NCAA championship game with a 72-59 victory over Louisville in the semifinals on Friday night.
COLUMBIA SC (WOLO)– FINAL: (1) South Carolina 72, (1) Louisville 59 #Gamecocks will play in the National Championship game for just the second time in school history on Sunday night. Sports Director Mike Gillespie and Cam Gaskins are in Minneapolis and will have continued coverage on air and online. Categories: Local News, Sports Tags: GamecockWBB
The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) awarded its annual player of the year honor – the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award – to South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston on Friday afternoon.
Jeff Walz has had a lot of success getting players to transfer to Louisville over the last few years, including three starters on his Final Four team this season.
Putting women on the same level with men when it comes to swag bags and logos is a starting point, and for Dawn Staley that’s all it is.
Boston is the second Gamecock in program history to win the Wade Trophy and earn AP Player of the Year laurels; she received 23 votes from the AP’s 30-member national media panel.
There’s a great deal of pressure that comes from being the wire-to-wire No. 1 team in the country. That pressure is nothing new to these Gamecocks.
This is Louisville’s fourth trip to the national semifinals in 15 seasons under coach Jeff Walz, a feat that has ensured every four-player in the program under his direction has had the opportunity to experience the Final Four.
Boston received 23 votes from the 30-member national media panel that votes weekly for the AP Top 25. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark received six votes and Baylor’s NaLyssa Smith got one.
A year after glaring inequities were revealed at the women’s NCAA Tournament and less than two weeks after sharp criticism from Congress, NCAA President Mark Emmert declared Wednesday that he was happy with the institution’s progress.
