Aliyah Boston, USC dominate SEC awards. Dawn Staley named Coach of the Year
South Carolina women’s basketball took three of the SEC’s main prizes in the conference’s annual awards voted on by coaches.
Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley was named SEC Coach of the Year for the fifth time of her career, it was announced Tuesday, while junior forward Aliyah Boston earned both SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors, and was named to the All-SEC first team and All-SEC defensive team.
South Carolina senior point guard Destanni Henderson was named to the conference’s first team, while junior guard Zia Cooke received second-team honors.
Staley led top-ranked South Carolina to a 27-1 (15-1 SEC) record throughout the 2021-22 season. This year’s Gamecocks clinched the SEC regular-season title outright and earned the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SEC tournament.
Boston has won SEC Defensive Player of the Year all three years of her college career and is the third Gamecock to win conference Player of the Year, joining Tiffany Mitchell and A’ja Wilson.
Boston is the Gamecocks’ leading scorer and rebounder, averaging a double-double through regular-season play. She’s garnered buzz for both national Player of the Year and national Defensive Player of the Year honors throughout her junior campaign.
Boston also eclipsed the SEC record of consecutive double-doubles this season, carrying a 21-game double-double streak into this week’s SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. She ranks second in the nation with 22 double-doubles on the season.
South Carolina begins its bid for the 2022 SEC tournament title on Friday at 1 p.m. The Gamecocks will play the playing the winner of Thursday’s game between the No. 8-seed Arkansas and No. 9 Missouri. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
2022 SEC Awards
Player of the Year: Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Coach of the Year: Dawn Staley, South Carolina
Defensive Player of the Year: Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Freshman of the Year: Samara Spencer, Arkansas
Sixth-Woman of the Year: Angel Baker, Ole Miss
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Mikayla Combs, Georgia
All-SEC First Team
Kiara Smith, Florida
Jenna Staiti, Georgia
Rhyne Howard, Kentucky
Khayla Pointer, LSU
Shakira Austin, Ole Miss
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Destanni Henderson, South Carolina
Jordan Horston, Tennessee
All-SEC Second Team
Brittany Davis, Alabama
Amber Ramirez, Arkansas
Aiccha Coulibaly, Auburn
Que Morrison, Georgia
Alexis Morris, LSU
Anastasia Hayes, Mississippi State
Aijha Blackwell, Missouri
Hayley Frank, Missouri
Zia Cooke, South Carolina
Tamari Key, Tennessee
SEC All-Defensive Team
Kiara Smith, Florida
Que Morrison, Georgia
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Tamari Key, Tennessee
Jordyn Cambridge, Vanderbilt
This story was originally published March 1, 2022 at 12:19 PM with the headline "Aliyah Boston, USC dominate SEC awards. Dawn Staley named Coach of the Year."
