No. 1 South Carolina tops UConn to stay unbeaten

HARTFORD — In a rematch of last season’s national championship game, South Carolina came out on top again over UConn thanks to a strong fourth quarter by Aliyah Boston.

Boston scored 23 of her 26 points in the second half, including 14 in the final period, to help the No. 1 Gamecocks beat the fifth-ranked Huskies, 81-77, on Sunday.

“Aliyah is just relentless, she plays relentlessly although she had a subpar (first half) as far as statistics, she impacted the game,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “She doesn’t get flustered. she knew she didn’t play up to her standards. What does she do? Raise her standard. Bad first half or not, she’s going to continue to play.”

The Gamecocks (23-0) have won 29 consecutive games since losing to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament title game last year.

They’ve won four of the past five meetings with the Huskies, including a victory in the NCAA championship game last season. That ended UConn’s 11-0 record in title games.

Now South Carolina finally has a win in Connecticut.

“This was a national championship-like game. I wanted us to feel what it takes to do this,” Staley said.

The game was played in front of a sellout crowd — the first at the XL Center since 2017.

“It was a great atmosphere. Felt like we were back in the tournament,” Boston said.

South Carolina used its size again to top the Huskies. The 6-foot-7 Kamilla Cardoso and Boston, the reigning AP Player of the Year helped the Gamecocks grab a 42-30 advantage on the boards, including 25 offensive rebounds.

Boston finished with 11 rebounds for the 76th double-double of her career.

Cardoso added 17 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out.