INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — It wasn’t the way Aliyah Boston wanted to begin her WNBA career.
But the St. Thomas native showed the crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse what she could be capable of during the Indiana Fever’s 70-61 loss to the Connecticut Sun on Friday night.
Boston finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, but she also fouled out late in the fourth quarter after she picked up her fifth and sixth fouls in a 12-second span.
“It wasn’t a successful rookie debut,” Boston said after the game. “No matter what my stats look like, this is a team sport and we didn’t come away with the ‘W’. It wasn’t as successful as I hoped, but it’s a lesson learned.
“I’ve gotten a good feel for the league right now. It’s just a physical game, especially being post players down low, doing what your team needs.”
However, Boston also spurred the Fever’s fourth-quarter rally, in which Indiana cut the Sun’s 19-point lead down to three points with less than two minutes remaining.
With her parents — Cleone and Al Boston — sitting courtside, the 6-foot-5 Boston scored eight points in the final period, with her follow up on teammate Erica Wheeler’s missed layup pulling the Fever within 62-59 with 1 minute, 44 seconds remaining.
“AB’s not a rookie in my mind — she’s a player,” said Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell, who scored a game-high 20 points. “She’s going to compete. I don’t want anybody else on my side. I can go into any war with her, because she’s going to compete. She’ll give you everything she’s got.”
Boston — the No. 1 overall pick by the Fever in the 2023 WNBA draft — drew the loudest cheers from the more than 7,000 Fever fans in attendance Friday.The
For three quarters, she was relatively quiet due to the fouls. Boston picked up her first foul with 6:36 left in the first quarter, then added two more in the second quarter (at the 6:45 and 1:48 mark). But when she picked up foul No. 4 with 7:36 left in the third quarter, Boston went to the bench.
“They’re bigger post player in the pro level,” Boston said. “Just trying to understand the fine line, especially with the physicality and how that looks offensively and defensively. It’s a work in progress … but I’m getting the hang of it. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s definitely going to improve.”
There were some highlight moments, though:
• Boston’s first official points in the WNBA came on a free throw with 8:48 left.
• Her first rebound was what set up the free throws, grabbing NaLyssa Smith’s missed 3-pointer and getting fouled by Connecticut’s Tiffany Hayes.4
• Her first field goal — and the Fever’s first, as well — came on a turnaround jumper in the paint with 3:29 left.
But the fourth quarter may have been Boston’s biggest highlight — she had eight points on 3 of 5 shooting from the field and 2 of 4 on free throws.
“I just tried to rebound, tried to score, do what my team needs,” Boston said. “It was pretty hard because I had gotten in foul trouble early. But we’re going to compete, no matter what the score look like. We just need to get out to a better start, and not being down as much.”
That attitude has the Fever’s coaching staff hopeful that their No. 1 pick will pick up things quickly.
“Aliyah is a competitor,” said first-year Indiana head coach Christie Sides. “She wants to win more than anybody in our locker room. This is the second game’s she’s fouled out in (also fouling out in the team’s second preseason game against Dallas), and it truly upset her because she feels she’s letting down the team.
“But I told her from the beginning that she’s not going to get any calls. It’s just what happens to rookies. She’s got to learn to figure out it’s not a boxing match, it’s not a fight. You’ve got to be smart, you’’ve got to make moves, you’ve got to stay wide bases and you’ve got to get to places early. She’s going to get better, guys.”
With only two days to figure things out before the Fever’s next game — on the road Sunday against the New York Liberty — Boston believes that this year’s team could surprise some people.
“We’re going to piece it together and play that way for a full four quarters, and show teams what we’re all about,” she said.