SAN ANTONIO – Aliyah Boston changed from hope to heartbreak in a fluid and devastating movement. His last-second tip went up. And when it sounded, the final bell was ringing, it fell. A cardinal celebration erupted around her as Boston, ravaged by sobs, fell to its knees.
After a feverish fourth-quarter shuttle, South Carolina had lost to Stanford 66-65.
The Final Four clash was intense and frantic. But it was never more than in his final minute. South Carolina took its first advantage in the second half with just 41 seconds remaining – moving up one with a three-pointer from Destanni Henderson. Stanford responded with a lost tray, but Haley Jones grabbed the offensive rebound and jumped, taking the lead again. South Carolina then failed to capitalize on a ball-bearing roller coaster: Boston missed a tray, picked up the rebound and kicked for Henderson, who turned the ball over with 16 seconds left. But Gamecocks had one more chance. As the seconds passed –10, 9, 8“Boston stole the ball.”
She shot Brea Beal on the court. With two seconds remaining, the guard looked openly at a tray, and she missed. But Boston arrived in time to grab the rebound – and try, unsuccessfully, to bet on victory.
Courtesy of NCAA Photos
As Boston launched its last hope, Dawn Staley recalled a February game, the team’s defeat in overtime against Connecticut. The final seconds of the fourth quarter on that first went in almost exactly the same way – there, too, Boston grabbed an offensive rebound for a chance to beat it with a forward shot. But this time, Staley hoped, the ending may be different.
“I thought it would be a redemption for Aliyah,” said the head coach. “Just for that ball to fall for her. But it was not in the letters for us. “
Stanford now heads to the national championship after a victory that showed his balance and defensive strength. I couldn’t beat South Carolina – no one did it all year. But Cardinal came relatively close (36 hits against 40 for the Gamecocks) and blocked 12 shots, more than any other team managed against South Carolina.
It was a showcase for Haley Jones, who led the team in scoring with 24. But he stood out so much for Lexie Hull’s rebounding ability; for the tough physical defense of freshman Cameron Brink; and by Ashten Prechtel’s vital bench contributions. This has been one of Stanford’s strong points all year – never having to rely too much on a single player – and helped to overcome him here.
Tara VanDerveer’s path to a championship has always been through Staley. His two Stanford titles – 1990 and 1992 – came after defeating Staley in the Final Four as a player with Virginia. The second of these victories was, like this, a one-point game with a heart-stopping ending. So, the missed opportunity for the last shot was for Staley. Now, 29 years later, she was asked how Boston – a perfectionist, still only a second year, prone to repeating bad times indefinitely – could move on. Staley remembered the loss of Stanford’s Final Four.
“It stays with me. It happened 29 years later, ”she said. “But from 29 years ago to now, I mean, there are so many good memories to replace that … Aliyah is going to get over it. Aliyah is a great player. Aliyah will come back stronger, the better. If she is put in this position again, she will bring her down. “
Staley took revenge on VanDerveer as a coach by defeating Stanford in the Final Four in 2017. But now the cards have changed – putting VanDerveer, the most winning coach in women’s college basketball history, into a final for the first time since 2010 and with the chance to win all for the first time in almost three decades, an opportunity that has always eluded her, despite all her success.
This time, she says, it is different.
“I don’t have any kind of skeleton in the closet or ghosts or anything,” said VanDerveer. “This is a team that I have confidence in, confidence in themselves, they really play hard for each other.