One Day We’re Going To Look Back At Last Night’s Win Over Clemson…

There comes a time in sports where you look back at past games and see a moment when players go from committing to their coach….to becoming total believers.

You see it in the great ones, from Nick Saban to Curt Cignetti and it is at that moment the team takes off. Up until that point, even the best think “show me” when presented with ideas not their own. After, there is this trust and confidence that translates to “coach knows what they’re doing.”

I think that moment for Megan Duffy and the Virginia Tech Hokies arrived last night.

It’s not that the team did not love and respect Megan, as she’s done a great job of rekindling the ashes from the mess the previous coach made and left behind. Far from it.

But there wasn’t that signature win that showed everyone when they put their minds to it, they will simply not be denied.

Not anymore.

At a time when Hokie fans have watched the men lose several close games in the final seconds, the women last night against Clemson weren’t even THAT close. They trailed 61-50 early in the fourth period, and after a quarter of battling, they still didn’t make much of a dent in the lead, trailing 68-60 with two minutes and 38 seconds to go.

This one’s over, I thought.

But the Hokies, displaying the same calmness and focus as their coach, started chipping away. Two free throws by Carleigh Wenzel got it to 6. Two more by Carys Baker cut it to 4.

A buzz was building in the crowd. Maybe this one wasn’t over.

At the 1:27 mark, Samyha Suffern – you know, that one the previous coach didn’t play much because he had his own personal favorites – hit a 3-pointer and all of a sudden it was a one-possession game.

Could this really happen, gun-shy Hokies (thanks to the men) started asking themselves.

The teams traded possessions and with 11 seconds left had possession and called a full timeout. The great ones in my experience, gather everyone around and calmly say “here’s what we’re going to do, and after we score to take the lead, everyone get back on defense.”

From what I was seeing on my television screen, that seemed to be exactly what Duffy was doing.

The ball then went down low to Wenzel, who because of her 24 points so far, immediately drew all of the attention of the defense. At the perfect time, Carleigh dumped the ball off to an open Carys Baker, who scored the winning points on an easy layup.

No jitters. No happy feet. No hesitation. Just a perfect play. At the perfect time.

Then when everyone DID get back on defense, Wenzel came up with the ball, got fouled and hit two free throws for the final 71-68 margin.

As you can see from the attached video, the team responded to their coach’s calm presence with anything but. Coaches getting dumped with Gatorade after winning the Super Bowl tend to experience more tranquil times.

Meanwhile, I just sat there in amazement after it was over (still am, for that matter). This was a win the team needed. It was a win Hokies fans needed.

It was a win that showed THIS is Megan Duffy’s program.

With a very bright future to follow…