INDIANAPOLIS — When Fever center Aliyah Boston wasn’t working as an analyst for women’s college basketball games on Peacock, she was hitting the gym.

A lot.

Between 22 in-studio shows throughout the regular season, then on-location at the Final Four in Cleveland, Boston made sure to put her strength training at the forefront.

“Her body looks amazing,” Fever coach Christie Sides told reporters on the first day of training camp. “She spent the offseason, as busy as she was doing what you guys do — and she was awesome at it, by the way — she was getting in the work.”

Enough so that she didn’t want to publicly say what her new deadlift max is.

“I would tell y’all how much I deadlift, but I don’t want people to be like, ‘Dang!’” Boston said to laughter. “... Just know that it’s up there.”

Boston, standing at 6-5, was one of the taller centers in the SEC when she played for South Carolina. When she came over to the WNBA, she faced players like Brittney Griner, Jonquel Jones and Teaira McCowan — all of whom are not only taller than her, but stronger, too, with multiple years of experience in the league.

So, the unanimous Rookie of the Year knew she needed to get stronger to be able to contend with the league’s tallest players.

“That was the one of the things that I wanted to work on in the offseason, just being able to hold my own a lot more,” Boston said. “I think coming in from college, you know, I had that strength, but there were also times where I felt like a rookie, especially down low in the post, and so to be able to come in my second year and be able to hold off a little bit longer, to be able to finish the contact a little bit better (was a goal).”

In the first few days of training camp, she can tell the difference. Her teammates can, too.

“For sure,” forward NaLyssa Smith said. “I play against her every day.”

Smith, the 2022 No. 2 pick, and Boston, the 2023 No. 1 pick, are going into their second season together as the Fever’s frontcourt pairing. They already made waves in the paint last season, with Smith averaging 15.5 points and 9.2 rebounds and Boston averaging 14.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.

But now, with a year under their belts, Smith said the duo has learned to work with each other instinctually.

“We're just comfortable with each other now,” Smith said. “Playing with each other, practicing, and going through a whole season with each other, now we’ve come accustomed to just playing with each other. So, I give her her space, and she gives me my space to work, and we’ll just get better together.”

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The Fever’s frontcourt will also have the advantage of better spacing this season with seventh-year guard Kelsey Mitchell and rookie Caitlin Clark.

Mitchell was the only Fever player to take over 100 3-point attempts last season, shooting at a 39% clip. Clark, the 2024 No. 1 pick, holds the Division I single-season 3-point record and shot 38% in her senior season at Iowa.

Add Katie Lou Samuelson or Lexie Hull into the mix at the small forward spot, and the Fever have a team that could be nearly unguardable. Teams will have to pick between double-teaming and leaving a potent shooter open, or single-guarding every player in the starting lineup — which opens up the paint for Smith and Boston.

“Everybody's gonna have to be guarded and respected this year,” Smith said. “I think that's going to be the great part about us this year is that everybody could score, you know, whether you’re at the 1 through the 5, everybody can score the ball. It’s going to open up a little bit for me and AB because we have so many dominant shooters on the outside."

Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fever's Aliyah Boston enters second WNBA season with newfound strength