UConn faces near-impossible task of stopping Aliyah Boston – 'the hardest person in America to guard' – in NCAA championship

• The UConn Huskies are competing for their program's 12th NCAA championship Sunday night.
• Their path to a title must find a way around Aliyah Boston, "the hardest person in America to guard."

The UConn Huskies have never lost an NCAA title game.

But they've never had to chart their path around Aliyah Boston, either.

The Huskies will face Boston — the consensus National Player of the Year and centerpiece of Dawn Staley's South Carolina juggernaut — in Sunday night's blockbuster clash of titans in the national championship game. And though the Gamecocks are stacked top-to-bottom this season, UConn knows it has a near-impossible challenge on its hands down in the post.

"I don't think it's a stretch to say that [Boston] might be the hardest person in America to guard," Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma said. "She scores if there's one, two, three, four people on her. It doesn't matter. She's able to carve out the space she wants. She gets the ball on the rim whenever she wants. She rebounds whichever ball she goes after. She just has a knack."

The UConn bigs — senior Olivia Nelson-Ododa and sophomore Aaliyah Edwards — know they face an incredibly tough task in attempting to limit Boston's impact Sunday night. But both post players feel "excited for the challenge" and "prepared" for the force coming their way, Edwards said.

"She's going to be super physical," Nelson-Ododa told Insider. "They look to get the ball into her almost every possession, so that's something that not only Aaliyah Edwards and I will have to defend, but it's just going to be a team effort... She definitely knows how to use her body, and she is skilled."

"That presents a challenge in terms of us just especially staying out of foul trouble," she added. "I think that's going to be key for us. Especially me and Aaliyah Edwards."

Fouls have been an issue for the Huskies' frontcourt duo throughout March Madness. Edwards has been whistled a minimum of three times in each of UConn's five NCAA tournament games thus far, while Nelson-Ododa picked up four fouls against the NC State Wolfpack in the Elite Eight and Stanford Cardinal in the Final Four.

Though the pair have faced fierce fights in the paint on the journey to Sunday's game — including bouts against Cameron Brink, Elissa Cunane, and a feisty UCF frontcourt — they have yet to face anyone like Boston. The 6-foot-5 South Carolina superstar averaged 17 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game this season en route to a whopping 29 double-doubles on the year — one of which came against the Huskies early in the season.

UConn faced the Gamecocks at the Bad Boy Mowers Women's Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas back in November. Boston recorded 22 points and 12 boards while holding Edwards, Nelson-Ododa, and now-hurt backup Dorka Juhasz to a combined 14 points.

The latter two Huskies picked up four and three personal fouls, respectively, in that contest. But Edwards told Insider she was confident in how much her team — and the post players — have grown in the four months since. Nelson-Ododa feels that they've now come "full circle."

"We had saw them at the very, very beginning of the year," the senior said. "We went through our adversity and whatnot, and we're back at this point. To me it's kind of full circle, but we're definitely enjoying the moment, but also just preparing and getting ready to lock in."

"We're definitely a more mature team," Nelson-Ododa added. "I think we kind of understand our roles, embrace our roles, and I feel like everything has been clicking into place, especially in the postseason."

As far as Boston is concerned, Sunday night is just about playing her own game despite UConn's length — a luxury deservedly afforded to the nation's most lethal player.

"I've been doing the same thing all year, just being consistent," Boston said. "I'm just going to make sure that I'm dominant coming into this game on Sunday."

Auriemma and his post players were reluctant to divulge their strategy for containing the St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, native. But in typical fashion, the Hall of Fame coach was willing to offer a sarcastic quip to the press about facing "the most important person in the country in terms of what she does for her team."

"How do we guard her? I don't know," Auriemma said Saturday. "I'm open for suggestions."