Aliyah Boston Ruled Out of USA World Cup Qualifiers After Injury Update
Indiana Fever fans have been getting excited about several of their star players competing in the upcoming FIBA Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament, which begins on March 11 and runs through March 17, taking place in Puerto Rico.
The two Fever players who were initially on Team USA's roster were Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston. While the fan base was thrilled to see both players compete, the fact that Clark hadn't participated in a competitive game with actual stakes was in the middle of July, when she suffered a groin injury that would keep her out for the rest of the season.
Clark is now fully healthy and will still be playing for Team USA next week. However, the same can't be said for her Fever teammate.
Boston (who played for Phantom BC in Unrivaled this season) suffered from a lower-leg injury during Phantom BC's regular season finale against Rose BC on February 27 and didn't return for the rest of the game.
While Boston was happy about her team's victory in the aftermath of the game, there was uncertainty about whether she'd be able to compete for the rest of Unrivaled.
IndyStar's Chloe Peterson provided an answer to this on March 1 with an X post that read, "Aliyah Boston, who left Phantom BC’s last regular season game with injury, has been ruled out for the rest of the Unrivaled season due to a right lower extremity injury.
"Unrivaled only has three days of play left, and did not specify the seriousness of the injury."
Aliyah Boston, who left Phantom BC’s last regular season game with injury, has been ruled out for the rest of the Unrivaled season due to a right lower extremity injury.
— Chloe Peterson (@chloepeterson67) March 1, 2026
Unrivaled only has three days of play left, and did not specify the seriousness of the injury.
While there still wasn't an official diagnosis about what Boston's injury might be, the fact that she was missing games didn't bode well for her participation in the FIBA Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament.
Aliyah Boston Ruled Out of USA World Cup Qualifiers After Injury
And an unfortunate update in this regard was revealed by another X post from Peterson on March 5.
"Aliyah Boston will no longer compete in the World Cup qualifiers after her right lower extremity injury in Unrivaled, per USA Basketball.
"Fever PR: 'Aliyah Boston will return to Indianapolis for further evaluation. Additional updates will be provided as they become available,'" the post wrote.
Aliyah Boston will no longer compete in the World Cup qualifiers after her right lower extremity injury in Unrivaled, per USA Basketball.
— Chloe Peterson (@chloepeterson67) March 5, 2026
Fever PR: “Aliyah Boston will return to Indianapolis for further evaluation. Additional updates will be provided as they become available. “
There still isn't any official diagnosis on what Boston's injury is, which means there's no way of knowing its severity. The hope is that everybody involved is just being as cautious as possible and that there's no threat of Boston missing significant time.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the Indiana Fever and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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