Aliyah Boston Laments Caitlin Clark’s 'Lame' Impact on South Carolina Title Run

Indiana Fever star Aliyah Boston didn't appreciate how her teammate Caitlin Clark ended Boston's college career.

Aug 31, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Indiana Fever forwards Natasha Howard (6) and Aliyah Boston (7) stand on the court during the third quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Before they were teammates on the Indiana Fever, Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark were two of the best players in women's college basketball. And these two current WNBA superstars matched up during the Final Four in the 2023 NCAA tournament, which came one season after Boston's South Carolina Gamecocks secured a national championship.

The Gamecocks entered that Final Four game with a perfect 36-0 record and were the obvious favorites to secure their second straight national title. Then they met an Iowa Hawkeyes squad that was led by Clark, who went ballistic against Boston and Dawn Staley's Gamecocks squad. No. 22 tallied a whopping 41 points on 15 of 31 shooting from the field (and five made three-pointers), along with tallying 8 assists and 6 rebounds.

This was enough for Iowa to pull up a 77-73 upset, allowing them to advance to the 2023 national championship game (where they'd lose to Angel Reese's LSU Tigers) and end South Carolina's bid for consecutive NCAA championships.

This also marked the end of Aliyah Boston's college career, as the Fever would select her with their No. 1 pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft a few weeks later.

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark (22) drives to the basket as South Carolina guard Kierra Fletcher (41) defends during the NCAA Women's Final Four semifinals basketball game in Dallas, Friday, March 31, 2023. Hawks2 Jpg | Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

Aliyah Boston Admits Caitlin Clark Disrupted Dawn Staley’s Championship Formula

Aliyah Boston and Candace Parker were answering fan questions during a December 17 episode of their Post Moves podcast when the topic of South Carolina's 2023 season came up.

A fan wrote in to Parker and Boston's podcast, asking whether either of their college coaches "adjusted strategy or method the following season [after winning a national championship] to combat complacency".

"Honestly, Coach Staley really didn't have to make any adjustments, because we knew that teams were coming for us every single time that we stepped on that floor," Boston responded. "So for us, it was just you understood what it took to win a championship the year before, and you knew that teams were gonna give you their best shot. So you had to be ready.

"The way that we approached practice was always intense. So we didn't really have to make any crazy adjustments, because we knew that if we wanted to go back-to-back, we would have to grind it," Boston continued.

"And we make it pretty far. Then we met Caitlin. Lame," she added.

Aliyah: “Coach Staley really didn't have to make any adjustments because we knew that teams were coming for us every single time we stepped on that floor… I mean, we made it pretty far. Then we met Caitlin” 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/79CNoHl6Oa

— drafts (@drafts95452567) December 17, 2025

There's no question that Clark quelled Boston's hopes of two straight titles. However, while Boston wasn't on the team in 2024, Dawn Staley's squad exacted revenge against Clark in the 2024 national championship game.