The South Carolina Gamecocks have been the No. 1-ranked women's basketball team all season, and on Wednesday they made a clean sweep of the annual Naismith Trophy honors.
Junior forward Aliyah Boston was named the Naismith Women's Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first women's player to earn both in the five-year history of the defensive honor. South Carolina's Dawn Staley was named Naismith Women's Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons, making her the fifth women's coach to earn the award at least twice in its 36-year history.
Following Wednesday's afternoon practice, Gamecocks players and coaches flooded the ballroom where the Naismith ceremony was held to support Boston and Staley. They chanted "M-V-P" as Boston accepted her second trophy of the night.
"It means a lot because those are my sisters," said Boston, whose 24 straight double-doubles are the longest active streak in the sport. "I practice with them every day. Off the court, I'm always with them. So, for them to be here to celebrate with me, I'm just so excited."
Boston edged out Naismith finalists in Iowa sophomore guard Caitlin Clark, Stanford junior guard Haley Jones and Baylor senior forward NaLyssa Smith. Staley, leading the 33-2 Gamecocks to their fourth Final Four appearance, won over three other finalists: LSU's Kim Mulkey, North Carolina State's Wes Moore and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer.
Staley stumped for Boston throughout a season in which she led the top-ranked Gamecocks with a career-high 16.8 points and 12.2 rebounds per game.
"It was a dream of hers, a goal of hers to be player of the year," Staley said. "I don't know if it was a goal of hers to be defensive player of the year, but when you're good at your craft, people recognize it. And the game truly gives to those who give to it."
The Gamecocks want to keep adding to the trophy case with their second national title. First they have to get through Louisville in Friday night's semifinal.
"This award is a blessing, but we still have two games," Boston said. "This award cannot bring me a national championship trophy, so I'm still focused on the real thing."
Bueckers' brand booming
UConn star Paige Bueckers has the highest name, image and likeness (NIL) value among all players in the women's and men's Final Fours, according to a study by Opendorse. No. 2 on the list is Louisville's Hailey Van Lith (Louisville), followed by Paolo Banchero (Duke), Zia Cooke (South Carolina) and Azzi Fudd (UConn).
The Opendorse study noted that women's basketball is the second-highest sport for NIL compensation, trailing only football. Men's basketball was third on that list, followed by women's swimming and diving, and women's volleyball.
Winters picked for contest
Gophers senior Deja Winters was one of eight players selected for the Rocket Mortgage Women's Three-Point Championship in New Orleans. The contest will air live at 8 p.m. Thursday on ESPN.
Winters averaged 11.2 points per game last season as a graduate transfer and shot 41.6% from three-point range. She scored a career-high 30 points against Iowa on Feb. 9.
- Star Tribune staff writer Joe Christensen contributed to this story.
