Boston stands between Huskies and a 12th title

The drive from the UConn campus in Storrs to Worcester, Massachusetts can be done in just over an hour, give or take a few minutes of Massachusetts gridlock.

For the folks who run the UConn women’s basketball program, the proximity was convenient a few years ago. It so happened that one of the best high school players in the country was honing her game at Worcester Academy as UConn was pursuing its next big recruiting catch.

Aliyah Boston was ranked third in the Class of 2019 by ESPN, behind California wing Haley Jones and Ohio guard Jordan Horston.

UConn was a finalist for all three.

But Horston chose Tennessee and Jones Stanford. Boston, the athletic, 6-foot-4 forward, pondered her decision before making the announcement in her native

Virgin Islands: South Carolina was the pick over UConn, Notre Dame and Ohio State.

“I’m really glad that UConn took the time to recruit me,” Boston said while making her announcement in November 2018. “There was nothing bad to say about it.”

UConn, of course, would score recruiting wins over the next few years. Heard of Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd?

Boston, though, was the one that got away. And on Sunday, UConn will get an intimate look at what might have been.

As the Huskies pursue their 12th NCAA title, South Carolina and Boston stand in the way. Boston has emerged as the best player in the country, a doubledouble machine capable of impacting the game under both baskets.

She is averaging 17 points and 12.4 rebounds. She’s had double-doubles in 29 games, including a 23-point, 18-rebound performance against Louisville in the national semifinal Friday.

“I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that she might be the hardest person in

America to guard,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said Saturday. “She scores if there’s one, two, three, four people on her. It doesn’t matter. She’s able to carve out the space she wants. She gets the ball on the rim whenever she wants. She rebounds whichever ball she goes after. She just has a knack.

“And I think when you can anchor your team with that, then you can go into every game as a coach pretty confident that you might not have other pieces working that day, but you’ve got that piece working. That’s the most important. I think she’s the most important person in the country in terms of what she does for her team.”

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley would agree. She has been touting Boston for national player of the year, even after a statistically slow start.

Boston had eight, nine and 11 points in the first three games of the season. The coaching staff urged her to be more aggressive and she never looked back. She had 22 points and 15 rebounds in a win over UConn in the Battle 4 Atlantis

Tournament in November, her first doubledouble of the season.

As the face of a team that’s been ranked No. 1 all season, Boston’s ability to navigate high expectations has been a defining characteristic. It’s why South Carolina has been so consistently good.

“I think when you’ve had to play under the gun like Aliyah has all season long, she’s mature enough to handle it,” Staley said. “She’s grounded. She knows who she is, and she never gets out in front of anything. She just takes the day as it comes. She takes her play as it comes.

“And that’s just a real good sign of just maturing and knowing who you are, knowing your worth and knowing that she’s probably the player of the year. It’s hard to play under that gun. And I think it also helps that other people have brought up some other candidates for National Player of the Year. Makes her work a little harder and focus in a little bit more because that’s one of the things that she wanted to accomplish.”

South Carolina (34-2) is making its second appearance in the title game. The Gamecocks won the 2017 national championship with a team led by 6-5 forward A’ja Wilson, who graduated to the WNBA a year later.

A few months after Wilson departed, Staley secured Boston.

How does UConn manage Boston? The Huskies start post players Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Aaliyah Edwards, but reserve Dorka Juhász is out. That’s five fouls removed from UConn’s rotation.

“It’s definitely (about) not giving her second chances,” Edwards said. “Doubledouble threat ... she’s going to get her points, also try to get her rebounds. Just the mindset for us is boxing her out, limiting her touches down low and limiting second-shot opportunities.”

Said Nelson-Ododa, “She’s going to be super physical. They look to get the ball in to her almost every possession, so that’s something that Aaliyah Edwards and I will have to defend, but it’s going to be a team effort.”