For the first time in her accomplished career, Aliyah Boston can call herself a national champion.
Boston and South Carolina downed UConn in the women’s NCAA national championship game on Sunday, claiming the program’s second ever title. One year after suffering a heartbreaking loss in the Final Four to eventual champion Stanford, the Gamecocks found redemption in Minneapolis with a 64–49 victory.
The win marked a special sort of redemption for Boston, who finished with 11 points and 16 rebounds on Sunday. After last year’s loss, images of the two-time first-team All-American crying circulated around and became a lasting memory for South Carolina’s disappointment.