‘We don’t get here without Victaria’: Staley, teammates have high praise for senior
Aliyah Boston has garnered national attention and all but been named the women’s basketball National Player of the Year. South Carolina’s junior center scored all 13 of the Gamecocks’ fourth-quarter points in Friday’s 69-61 Sweet 16 win over UNC.
For as much as Boston has done for USC, head coach Dawn Staley is quick to attribute her team’s fourth Elite Eight appearance in five tournaments to another veteran.
“We don’t get here without Victaria (Saxton),” Staley said. “We don’t. She is Teflon. She takes falls. She gives up weight and girth, quickness. Every game there is something that there is a disadvantage for her, and she is just sheer will.”
Saxton didn’t mind UNC’s physicality and was all over the Greensboro Coliseum court. The senior totaled a season-high 14 rebounds (seven on both ends) to go along with six points, two blocks and a steal in 33 minutes, the most she’s played all year. The Rome, Georgia native knows her role might not always be the most glamorous, handling the intangible aspects of the game.
Still, she plays it well and is considered an essential part of the team’s success.
“Just watching her throw herself everywhere to get us that second chance, offensive rebound, defensive rebound,” guard Brea Beal said. “It’s really cool to see her do that.”
A key part in Saxton knowing where to direct her teammates is her in-depth knowledge of each team South Carolina faces. While not as tall as Boston at 6-foot-5 or Kamilla Cardoso (6-7), Staley noted the 6-foot-2 Saxton is still an interior factor on defense while maintaining a level of intensity needed for the defensive-minded squad.
Hardly ever using all of her fouls — she’s only committed one over the last four games — Saxton studies every opponent, learning their tendencies and habits.
“So that’s why she is able to get timely blocks,” Staley said, adding: “She is also able to cover up when we have mistakes that are out there on the floor. Experience, there is no substitute for the experience that she has and the impact she has for our team.”
Saxton will have the full scouting report down Sunday when South Carolina faces a much smaller Creighton squad in the Elite Eight. The Bluejays have been the Cinderella story of the tournament, downing seventh-seeded Colorado, No. 2 Iowa and No. 3 Iowa State to make their first-ever fourth-round appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Saxton and the Gamecocks are aware of Creighton’s inferred underdog storyline, but USC is more focused on its own goals being two games removed from the national championship.
And, they’ll have Victaria Saxton there to help them do it.
“V is a great leader for us,” guard Zia Cooke said. “Of course she does all the little things, but she keeps us in order, tells us where we need to go, and is a great teammate.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2022 at 5:06 PM with the headline "‘We don’t get here without Victaria’: Staley, teammates have high praise for senior."
