Boston, Clark headline women’s AP All-America team

Aliyah Boston is now a member of the elite three-timers club.

The South Carolina star was honored for the third straight year as an All-American by The Associated Press on Wednesday. She’s just the 10th player to earn that honor three times.

Boston was joined on the first team by Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist, LSU’s Angel Reese and Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes. Boston and Clark were unanimous choices by the 28-member national media panel that votes in the AP Top 25 each week.

It’s the second consecutive season that a player joined the club. Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard did it last season.

South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson, Baylor’s Brittney Griner, Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw, Duke’s Alana Beard, Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris, Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu and UConn’s Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore are the only other players to earn first-team honors at least three times. Paris and Moore did it four times.

Boston earned second-team All-America honors her freshman year.

“Aliyah has been the best college player in, to me, as many years as she’s been honored as an All-American, but definitely the past two seasons,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “I hope that we can really give her her flowers while she’s still a collegiate athlete because I don’t think there will be another Aliyah Boston to ever grace college women’s basketball.”

Boston helped South Carolina go undefeated in the regular season and enter the NCAA Tournament as the top overall seed. She averaged 13.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks a game. She is a big reason the Gamecocks went wire-to-wire as No. 1 in the AP poll for the second straight season.

Clark could join the three-timers club next season. The junior once again put up eye-popping numbers averaging 27.0 points, second best in the nation. She also had 8.3 assists and 7.5 rebounds per game to help Iowa win the Big Ten Tournament title for a second consecutive year.

“It’s one thing to be a first team All-American, but another to receive it in back-to-back seasons,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. “Our program, university, and state is so proud of all the things she has accomplished thus far. There’s nobody more deserving than a generational player like Clark.”

Clark trailed only Siegrist in scoring. The Villanova star averaged 28.9 points this season and set the career Big East scoring record. She has 984 points this season and is looking to become the fifth player ever to score over 1,000 in a season. She has scored 20-plus points in 34 consecutive games which is one short of Kelsey Plum’s record set in 2016-17.

“Maddy is an All-American in every sense of the word and she is truly deserving of this honor,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon. “On the court, the numbers she has put up this year are staggering. To lead the country in scoring and score 1,000 points in one season is amazing. We are so proud of Maddy becoming the first Associated Press All-American in program history.”

Reese had a stellar season for the Tigers, averaging 23.4 points and 15.5 rebounds while shooting 54% from the field. The sophomore forward broke Sylvia Fowles’ school record…