She missed a big shot, but there's so much more to South Carolina superstar Aliyah Boston

In her worst moment, South Carolina's Aliyah Boston showed her best asset.

A year ago, NCAA semifinal game in San Antonio, Stanford, closing moments. Boston stole the ball near midcourt and passed to teammate Brea Beal. She missed. As Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley has said, most bigs — Boston is a 6-5 post phenomenon — would have watched the play. Boston followed it, grabbed the rebound, put it back.

And the ball rolled off the rim. Stanford, 66-65.

You might think that difficult moment is why both Boston and South Carolina are back in the Final Four this weekend, ready to take on Louisville in Friday's semifinal, an opportunity for a rematch with defending champion Stanford possibly looming.

Not to Boston.

"So that happened last season,'' she said after a regional final win over Creighton. "But that's not something I can continue to think about, or else there wouldn't be any progress. So I've let go of that.''

So there are other reasons why Boston, already great, has become so incredibly dominant. In recent weeks she's won just about everything a college player can win. SEC player of the year, conference defensive player of the year. Here in Minneapolis? A two-day sweep of the Naismith and AP Player of the Year awards.

"This is a blessing,'' Boston said after winning the Naismith on Wednesday. "I thank God for it. [But] this award cannot bring me a national championship trophy. So I'm still focused on that.''

A native of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, who moved to Massachusetts as she was ready to enter high school, Boston has always matched her talent with her effort. It was one of the first things Staley noticed when watching her back then: Boston always working hard, even on a losing team.

After the 2021 loss, Boston got an encouraging message from Tim Duncan, himself a U.S. Virgin Islands native. He had missed a late shot in the 2013 NBA Finals in a game that would have tied Game 7.

Boston went back to San Antonio during the offseason to work with Duncan on post moves, footwork. She also got herself in the best shape of her life, dropping 23 pounds.

And then, the regular season: On a team that has been ranked No. 1 since the preseason, she has been the leading scorer (16.8 points per game) and rebounder (12.2). She had 28 points and 22 rebounds in a Sweet Sixteen victory over North Carolina, had a 27-game double-double streak ended in the regional final vs. Creighton.

She shot better than 54%.

"It's super cool,'' Staley said of Boston winning player of the year, something she'd been campaigning weeks for. "When you're good at your craft, people recognize it. The game gives to those to give to it.''