Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke named to Associated Press All-American teams
Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke were named All-Americans by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Boston was unanimously selected to the first team for the third time in her career. She was named to the second team as a freshman.
She heads into the NCAA Tournament averaging 13.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Boston also won SEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year for her regular-season performance. She won the SEC Tournament MVP award in Greenville as well.
Boston became the second Gamecock to make the first team three times, with A’ja Wilson as the other. She is also one of nine players ever to do so, and one of five to make four AP All-American teams.
Boston made the first team along with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Maddy Siegrist and Mackenzie Holmes.
Cooke earned third-team honors, the first time she was named to an AP All-American team in her career. Cooke is the Gamecocks’ leading scorer at 15.3 points per game. She has seven games this season with 20 or more points.
Brea Beal was named as an honorable mention, a distinction given to players who appeared on one of the ballots.
Boston (first team) and Cooke (third team) earned also earned All-America status from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
South Carolina begins its title defense on Friday when it faces Norfolk State at 2 p.m. at Colonial Life Arena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
2022-23 AP ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS
First team:
Aliyah Boston, South Carolina
Caitlin Clark, Iowa
Maddy Siegrist, Villanova
Angel Reese, LSU
Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana
Second team:
Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech
Cameron Brink, Stanford
Diamond Miller, Maryland
Olivia Miles, Notre Dame
Alissa Pili, Utah
Third team:
Zia Cooke, South Carolina
Ashley Joens, Iowa State
Aaliyah Edwards, UConn
Aneesah Morrow, DePaul
Haley Jones, Stanford
This story was originally published March 15, 2023 at 12:02 PM.
