South Carolina's Aliyah Boston named SEC Female Athlete of the Year

South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston has been named the 2021-22 SEC Female Athlete of the Year, the conference announced Wednesday. She joins Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, who was named the SEC Male Athlete of the Year.

Boston had a brilliant 2021-22 season, averaging a team-high 16.8 points per game and leading the country with 30 double-doubles. The award is yet another to add to her list, as she was also the first player male or female to take home both the Naismith Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. She also became the South Carolina’s first winner of the Honda Cup, which honors the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.

“Bryce and Aliyah are the remarkable examples of what it means for a young person to fully participate as a student and as an athlete in the Southeastern Conference,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said. “Both Aliyah and Bryce were honored with their sport’s national player of the year award as they each held themselves to the highest standards of competitive excellence. We are proud of both and grateful for their outstanding representation of the Southeastern Conference and of the accomplishments they have achieved as members of their university communities.”

Boston helped lead the Gamecocks to a national title this past season, setting single-season school records for total rebounds, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds and double-doubles in the process. 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.

Just a junior last year, Boston will have one more season to climb her way up the program leaderboards.

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.