THE BALL CLANGS off the back of the rim as the buzzer sounds, and Aliyah Boston's hands fly to her head in disbelief. She's hit this shot 1,000 times -- a little putback just over the front of the rim. But when she wanted to hit it most, in the last moments of the 2021 Final Four to send South Carolina to the national championship game, the ball bounces off metal instead of dropping through the net.
Boston turns her back to the basket, and squats low. She presses her palms flat against the hardwood; she bows her head into her jersey as her teammates collapse all around her.