Aliyah Boston Roy F. Kramer SEC Female Athlete of the Year
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s basketball junior Aliyah Boston was named the 2021-22 Roy F. Kramer SEC Female Athlete of the Year by a vote of the league’s athletics directors, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced today. She becomes the third Gamecock women’s basketball player to claim the award in the last five years, joining Tyasha Harris (2020) and A’ja Wilson (2018).
Last week, Boston became the University’s first winner of the Honda Cup, which honors the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. It caps a season during which Boston was the unanimous National Player of the Year and the NCAA Women’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player after leading the Gamecocks to the 2022 National Championship. She was also the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, the first player male or female to win both Naismith honors, and won both SEC Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year recognition.
A three-time Lisa Leslie Award winner, the Gamecocks’ leading scorer (16.8 ppg) led the nation with 30 double-doubles this season, including an SEC-record 27 straight to become just the third player in NCAA Div. I women’s basketball history with a streak at least that long.
In the Gamecocks’ 14 games against ranked opponents, including seven against top-10 foes, Boston poured in 18.1 points per game and grabbed 13.9 rebounds per outing. In just her second NCAA Tournament, she was named Most Outstanding Player at both the Greensboro Regional and the Final Four after averaging 16.8 points and 15.2 rebounds in the tournament, during which she also led the team in assists.
She became the Gamecocks’ fifth-fastest player to reach 1,000 rebounds (92 games) and also reached 1,000 career points this season. In the program career record book, Boston ranks fourth in total rebounds, third in offensive rebounds, third in defensive rebounds, second in double-doubles, and second in blocked shots. This season she set program single-season records for total rebounds, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, and double-doubles.
The 2021-22 Roy F. Kramer SEC Male Athlete of the Year was Bryce Young of Alabama, who won the Heisman Trophy among other national player of the year honors.
The SEC Athletes of the Year Awards were first presented in 1976 for men and 1984 for women. The award was renamed the Roy F. Kramer Athletes of the Year in 2004 to honor the former Commissioner who served the conference from 1990-2002. In addition to South Carolina’s now three winners from women’s basketball, Kip Bouknight (2000, baseball) and Trinity Johnson (1997, softball) have also claimed the award for the Gamecocks.
Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for the most up-to-date information on the women’s basketball program.
