South Carolina got a career game from Aliyah Boston and beat Florida 75-59 to begin SEC play.

Through the six non-conference games the question was “What’s wrong with Aliyah Boston?” Her numbers were down, she wasn’t shooting well, and at times she seemed to be forgotten about on offense. The last two games before the break were better, but Boston still didn’t look like the player who was a preseason All-American.

She made sure to end the year on a high note.

Boston touched the ball in the paint on four of the first five possessions (the fourth was a missed transition layup), setting the tone. She made layups, hit pick-and-pop jumpers, and drained threes. When that wasn’t enough she did it all herself, turning her own defense into offense - she ended the first half by grabbing a rebound, dribbling the length of the court, and hitting a pull-up jumper as time expired.

“I saw the clock going down and I couldn’t find Zia or Henny so I was like I guess I’m going to go,” Boston said.

“What you saw today is what we saw in the preseason. Unfortunately it took a couple of games for it to develop in-game,” Staley said.

Boston finished with a career-high 28 points, a season-high 16 rebounds (second-most in her career), four blocks, also a season-high, and three steals. It wasn’t just her best game of the season, but perhaps the best of her career. You’d probably have to go back to A’ja Wilson for a similar game.

“My teammates really helped me tonight. They put me in great positions where I could make layups or hit jumpers,” Boston said. “I think I was holding myself back. I’ve made some progress to get out of my head.”

“When she hit ten points I told her she was back,” Zia Cooke said. “She was the Aliyah we’ve been waiting on.”

“We wanted to make Boston make outside shots and she made three threes, and man she’s tough to box out,” Florida coach Cam Newbauer said. “We thought we had a pretty good plan, trying to get the ball out of her hands. At halftime she had 19 and 11 so that wasn’t working.”

Boston was so dominant that it was easy to overlook Cooke, who continued her strong play this season. She finished with 26 points, a season-high and second-most of her career, and tied her career-high with five assists. She was an efficient 10-22 shooting, and hit several key baskets in the second half.

The problem for the Gamecocks was that Boston and Cooke did almost everything. Nobody else reached double-figures scoring, combining for just 21 points. Victaria Saxton played well, scoring nine points and tying her career-high with 12 rebounds. But it got shaky after that. Destanni Henderson had seven rebounds and a career-high nine assists, but just two points on 1-7 shooting. Brea Beal was 2-11 shooting for four points. Laeticia Amihere, who played so well at times in the non-conference games, committed careless early fouls and never found her rhythm.

And there were numerous defensive lapses. Both teams looked rusty to start the game, but South Carolina was locked in defensively. South Carolina held Florida scoreless for the final 5:03 of the first quarter, and then outscored the Gators 25-12 in the second. South Carolina forced 13 turnovers and outrebounded Florida 14-4 in the second quarter and was +10 at halftime.

Florida shot 63% in the third quarter and outscored South Carolina 29-8, the most points South Carolina has allowed in a quarter this season. Staley felt the problem started with bad offense, which turned into bad defense.

“Layups have been a nemesis of ours all season long. Once we miss it has a trickle-down effect on the other end,” she said. “We’ve got to figure out how to make layups and set our defense.”

Lavender Briggs scored 23 points for Florida, helping the Gators cut the lead to 10 twice late in the third quarter.

“She’s a gamer,” Newbauer said. “She gets fired up for the big time teams and she wants the ball in her hands.”

Banner time

Before the game South Carolina revealed three banners recognizing last season’s team. They a banner for both the SEC Regular Season and Tournament championships, as well as a banner recognizing the Gamecocks as the unanimous #1-ranked team at the end of the season. The design and wording on the banner was kept secret, and the players first saw it before the game.

“It got us hyped for the game,” Cooke said.

“We had no idea,” Boston said. “We were all in shock. I loved the video they showed beforehand. I almost teared up. It was really cute.”

Notes:

Destiny Littleton was not available to play. … With Littleton out, Olivia Thompson played four minutes as Cooke’s backup and LeLe Grissett got significant time as the backup point guard. Eniya Russell and Elysa Wesolek also got spot minutes. … Boston was 3-5 from three. The rest of the team was 0-11. … Boston passed 500 career points Thursday, becoming the 11th fastest player in program history to reach the markl. … South Carolina finished with 18 points off 21 Florida turnovers. Florida had nine points off 15 South Carolina turnovers. … South Carolina’s next game is Monday at Alabama.