South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks Rack Up Postseason Awards

On Tuesday, the SEC announced its women’s basketball awards, and, unsurprisingly, the South Carolina basketball team racked up the hardware. Despite tallying ten total awards, one can argue that the Gamecocks actually were underrepresented.

Head Coach Dawn Staley (and her undefeated record) was the clear choice to win Coach of the Year. This was Staley’s sixth SEC Coach of the Year selection. Kim Mulkey at LSU was a deserving candidate, but Dawn Staley is on a different level than every other coach in the country. She is also a candidate for the National Coach of the Year award.

Aliyah Boston, a candidate for the three National Player of the Year awards (women’s John R. Wooden award, women’s Naismith College Player of the Year award, and the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association Wade Trophy) given annually to the women’s college basketball National Player of the Year, was selected as the SEC’s Player of the Year. She also won the Defensive Player of the Year award and is one of the favorites to win the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award. Boston has won FOUR STRAIGHT SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors and two straight SEC Player of the Year awards. She was also named to the first-team All-SEC team and to the Defensive All-SEC team.

Zia Cooke led the team in scoring this season, and that offensive production allowed her to join Boston as a first-team All-SEC selection. Kamilla Cardoso was voted as the 6th Woman of the Year in the conference and was picked as a second-team All-SEC team member; she is a candidate for the National 6th Woman of the Year award, too. Brea Beal, one of the conference’s best overall defenders, was finally selected to represent South Carolina on the Defensive All-SEC team. Raven Johnson was picked to be on the Freshman All-SEC team.

The full list of awards:

Individual Season Awards

Coach of the Year: Dawn Staley, South Carolina 

Player of the Year: Aliyah Boston, South Carolina

Defensive Player of the Year: Aliyah Boston, South Carolina

6th Woman of the Year: Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina

Freshman of the Year: Flau’jae Johnson, LSU

Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Hannah Barber, Alabama

First Team All-SEC Team

Aliyah Boston, South Carolina

Zia Cooke, South Carolina

Brittany Davis, Alabama

Alexis Morris, LSU

Angel Reese, LSU

Angel Baker, Ole Miss

Jordan Horston, Tennessee

Rickea Jackson, Tennessee

Second Team All-SEC Team

Kamilla Cardoso, South Carolina

Erryn Barnum, Arkansas

Aicha Coulibaly, Auburn

Diamond Battles, Georgia

Madison Scott, Ole Miss

Jessika Carter, Mississippi State

Hayley Frank, Missouri

Ciaja Harbison, Vanderbilt

Freshman All-SEC Team

Raven Johnson, South Carolina

Saylor Poffenbarger, Arkansas

Flau’jae Johnson, LSU

Sa’Myah Smith, LSU

Debreasha Powe, Mississippi State

Ashton Judd, Missouri

Janiah Barker, Texas A&M

Sydney Bowles, Texas A&M

Defensive All-SEC Team

Aliyah Boston, South Carolina

Brea Beal, South Carolina

Diamond Battles, Georgia

Angel Reese, LSU

Madison Scott, Ole Miss

Jessika Carter, Mississippi State