Aliyah Boston leads South Carolina back to Final Four after rout of Creighton

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Aliyah Boston checked one goal off her list on Sunday night.

The biggest one remains ahead.

Though Boston had her double-double streak snapped, her 19 points led the way in helping No. 1 overall seed South Carolina handle No. 10 seed Creighton 80-50 to clinch a spot in the Final Four for the second straight season.

This Final Four appearance is one Boston has worked for since their semifinal loss to Stanford last year, when she missed a shot at the buzzer that would have taken the Gamecocks into the national championship game. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley and the rest of the team have spoken openly about how much they all wanted to get back to the Final Four to get another shot at winning a championship.

Most especially Boston.

Now they have it. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Boston raised her arms in the air, did a little dance and screamed, «Let's go!» After the postgame handshake line, players ran over to dance and celebrate with the South Carolina band, and soon Boston joined them after doing her postgame ESPN interview.

Although Boston did not have a double-double for the first time in 27 straight games, her presence inside the paint caused major issues for the much smaller Bluejays. In order to try and slow down South Carolina, Creighton knew it would have to try to make life as uncomfortable as possible for Boston and the post players inside, while relying on its ability to make 3-pointers.

Easier said than done against the leading candidate for player of the year. South Carolina finished with 42 points in the paint, the 13th time it had 40 or more this season — the most in the SEC. Eight of Boston's nine field goal attempts in the game came from inside the paint. Not only that,