While A'ja Wilson stole the headlines on Friday night with a record-setting performance for the Las Vegas Aces against the Atlanta Dream (check out the details of her ridiculous showing here), she wasn't the only South Carolina basketball legend to light it up in the WNBA on July 12th.
Fellow Gamecock National Champion, National Player of the Year, and #1 overall WNBA Draft pick Aliyah Boston had a historic effort in a win against the Phoenix Mercury. As she has been doing a lot lately, Boston dominated on Friday night.
The Indiana Fever star posted an impressive stat line of 21 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks on 10-17 shooting from the field. She also was excellent on defense as no Mercury post player had more than 10 points. Boston, Caitlin Clark, and Nalyssa Smith became the first trio of teammates to have double-doubles plus 2 blocks in the same game.
Her performance was just the second time in the history of the WNBA in which a player scored at least 20 points, pulled down at least 13 rebounds, dished out at least 5 assists, stole the ball 3 times, and blocked at least 2 shots. Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings (in the 2009 WNBA postseason) is the other. (Hat tip to acrossthetimeline.com for the stat)
Friday night's domination was not Boston's only 20-13 performance of the year. The former Gamecock put up 27 points and 13 rebounds in a win over the Atlanta Dream back in June.
Boston, in just her second year in the league, will play in her second WNBA All-Star Game next weekend. She and fellow former USC star Allisha Gray will play against A'ja Wilson in the game as Team USA (Wilson's squad) will face off against the other WNBA All-Star Game participants.