Gamecocks Harris and Boston make midseason Wooden Award List

Two of of the fourth-ranked Gamecocks made the midseason Wooden Award List.

South Carolina women's basketball senior guard Tyasha Harris and freshman forward Aliyah Boston earned spots on the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25, the announced Wednesday night. It is the first appearance on the award's midseason list for both players.

 Harris is a two-time Honorable Mention All-American and All-SEC selection who was on all four national player of the year preseason watch lists. Earlier this season she scored her 1,000th point and is on track to break the Gamecocks career assists record as she’s currently 30 away from Cristina Ciocan's mark of 615. This season, Harris is scoring a career-high 11.9 points per game and leads the SEC with 4.8 assists per game. She is shooting 41.1 percent from the field, including 37.8 percent from 3-point range.

Boston burst on to the college scene with the first triple-double in a career debut in NCAA Div. I history with her 12-point, 12-rebound, 10-block effort in the Gamecocks' season opener. She is the top scorer on the team at 13.0 points per game, ranking 23rd in the SEC. She is ninth in the league in rebounding (7.8) and ranks 11th in the nation in both field goal percentage (.632) and blocks per game (3.0). The three-time SEC Freshman of the Week has built her stats against the best teams in the country, averaging 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in the Gamecocks' five games against nationally ranked opponents, shooting 65.0 percent against top competition.

 The players on the list are considered strong candidates for the 2020 John R. Wooden Award Women's Player of the Year presented by Wendy's. Players not chosen to the midseason list are still eligible for the Wooden Award late season list, and the National Ballot. The National Ballot consists of 15 top players who have proven to their universities that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the Wooden Award. Nearly 1,000 voters will rank in order 10 of those 15 players when voting opens prior to the NCAA Tournament and will allow voters to take into consideration performance during early round games. The Wooden Award All American Team will be announced the week of the "Elite Eight" round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of the 2020 John R. Wooden Award will be presented by Wendy's during the ESPN College Basketball Awards on Friday, April 10, 2020.

Both players will be back in action Thursday as the No. 4 Gamecocks host No.21 Arkansas at Colonial Life Arena.

2020 Wooden Award Midseason Top 25

Aliyah Boston, South Carolina

Chennedy Carter, Texas A&M

Kaila Charles, Maryland

Lauren Cox, Baylor

Elissa Cunane, NC State

Crystal Dangerfield, UConn

Rennia Davis, Tennessee

Chelsea Dungee, Ark

Dana Evans, Louisville

Kiah Gillespie, Florida State

Tyasha Harris, South Carolina

Ruthy Hebard, Oregon

Rhyne Howard, Kentucky

Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon

Juicy Landrum, Baylor

Aarion McDonald, Arizona

Beatrice Mompremier, Miami

Olivia Nelson-Ododa, UConn

Michaela Onyenwere, UCLA

Ali Patberg, Indiana

Mikayla Pivec, Oregon State

Satou Sabally, Oregon

Destiny Slocum, Oregon State

Megan Walker, UConn

Christyn Williams, UConn