U.S. college hoops crown now worn by Mississauga native, Oakville high school grad

Mississauga native and Oakville private school grad Laeticia Amihere can now add NCAA women’s basketball title to her sports resume.

The 6-foot-4 junior forward scored two points and hauled in a rebound in nine minutes of floor time as her No. 1-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks cruised past perennial power Connecticut Huskies 64-49 in last night’s (April 3) U.S. college national championship game in Minneapolis.

An early graduate of King’s Christian Collegiate in Oakville in late 2018, Amihere was the 10th-ranked women’s basketball prospect in her class when she went to South Carolina.

The athletic junior and Canadian national women’s team player had already suffered two ACL tears by the time she joined the Gamecocks three years ago.

Jesus you are so faithful ❤️ pic.twitter.com/zz0FW3HGtz

— Laeticia Amihere (@_Theblackqueen_) April 4, 2022

Having missed being part of the Gamecocks’ first-ever national title squad by just one year–South Carolina won it all in 2017–Amihere was very much a key component of this year’s championship team.

This year’s edition of the Gamecocks are also the first team to ever beat a Connecticut squad in the title game, and they led wire-to-wire in the contest. Prior to last night, the Huskies had won all 11 national championship title games in which they had competed.

Destanni Henderson (Fort Myers, Fla.) led South Carolina with 26 points, four assists and three steals in the title game.

In last Friday’s 72-59 semi-final win over Louisville Cardinals, Amihere scored a point to go with two assists and two rebounds in 15 minutes of action.

In the game before, the Mississauga native scored nine points while picking up three rebounds and an assist in an 80-50 win over the Creighton Bluejays that sent the Gamecocks onto the Final Four.

In earlier tournament action, the Gamecocks picked up wins over Howard (79-21), Miami (49-33) and North Carolina (69-61).

Amihere scored four points against Howard and had one bucket and three rebounds in the North Carolina game while being kept off the scoresheet against Miami. She saw limited action in all three contests.