South Carolina Basketball: Aliyah Boston posts massive double-double is Gamecock vs. Gamecock duel
By Kevin Miller
So far, Aliyah Boston has had one of the best rookie seasons of all-time in the WNBA. The former South Carolina basketball star is already in the top-10 in the league in rebounding, blocked shots, and player efficiency rating, is in the top-20 in scoring and steals, and is leading the game in field goal percentage.
Remarkably, Boston has been this good in her first year of professional basketball despite dealing with almost constant double-teams. When she touches the ball in the post, a second defender comes crashing down almost immediately. The fact that she leads the league in field goal percentage while facing two defenders at a time is almost unfathomable.
It’s no wonder that she was an All-Star Game starter.
Her strong play for the Indiana Fever continued on Sunday night as Boston dominated the Atlanta Dream with a 25-point, 10-rebound double-double. If that weren’t impressive enough, she also added 4 steals, 2 blocks, and 2 assists. She led all players in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks.
Only three rookies had ever put together a 25-point, 10-rebound, 4-steal performance in the history of the WNBA, but after Aliyah Boston’s effort on Sunday, that number is now 4.
Unfortunately for Boston, the Dream had Allisha Gray on their side. Gray scored 21 points of her own, including 3-4 shooting from behind the arc, to lead Atlanta to the victory. Gray led all players in both 3-pointers and free throws made.
Two other former Gamecocks, Victaria Saxton and Laeticia Amihere, play for Indiana and Atlanta, respectively, but neither player logged any stats in the contest.
The Fever have largely struggled outside of Boston this season, but she has led the team to a higher win total than they have had since 2019. She is slowly but surely raising the profile of a team that has been viewed as one of the worst in basketball for over half a decade.