It was Aliyah Boston’s South Carolina against Paige Bueckers’ UConn. That’s how the women’s national title game was billed – and for good reason.
Boston is the 2022 Naismith player of the year who led South Carolina to a wire-to-wire season as the country’s top-ranked team. Bueckers is the 2021 player of the year whose return from injury is likely the reason UConn reached the title game.
But when the game tipped off, the team that prevailed did so because it was more than its biggest star. Boston and Bueckers played well, but South Carolina prevailed because of the others. And none of the others were better than senior guard Destanni Henderson.
