With about four minutes left in the first half, Vicki Krapohl sank her second three-pointer of the night off a pass from fellow senior Iciss Tillis. On the subsequent possession, Alana Beard stole the ball from Clemson and ran it down the court. With Lady Tigers on her tail, Beard threw a behind-the-back pass into the hands of Tillis, who laid it up to put Duke ahead by 22. These phenomenal plays were certainly indicative of senior night in Cameron Indoor Stadium Friday, as Duke crushed Clemson by 57 points.
I was beyond impressed with the performance of the entire team in its senior night effort. But most of all, I was impressed with the leadership of the seniors.
The game began with a ceremony where the seniors and their parents joined for a photo op, but after the pictures, the seniors were the most eager to begin the game. They were the ones who fired up the rest of the team, who donned numbers 12, 33, 20 and 15 on their arms, an homage to graduating leaders.
Krapohl, whose career has been defined by the long ball, sank three from the behind the arc. However, most impressive in Friday's game was her focus and vision on the court, dishing the ball to her teammates and racking up six assists.
"Every day we come in here and play for [the fans]," Krapohl said. "But it's not over yet. We're not done yet."
Though every senior emphasized that this was not, in fact, the end--that the tournaments in the weeks ahead were yet to be played--it remained an emotional night for all. Kalita Marsh, team manager turned walk-on senior, took the time at the end of the game to address the awesome opportunity to play.
"It's a dream come true to play here," Marsh said with tears in her eyes. "Never give up on your dreams. Work hard towards them every day because they do come true."
Gathering applause from the entire crowd, she expressed what all the players felt. Beard echoed the sentiment.
"[Playing at Duke] has been the best experience of my life," Beard said. "I just wanted us to go out in style, and we did tonight."
Beard had an incredible night, missing only two of her 13 shots and collecting 28 points. One point shy of Johnny Dawkin's career point record, Beard sat out for much of the second half to give other players an opportunity to shine.
"It's really not about the individual right now because we have so many things as a team that we want to do," she said.
And it wasn't about the individual; it was about the team. It was about the last four years with a pair of Final Four appearances, four straight ACC regular season titles, four conference tournament titles and only 13 losses in 132 games. It was about coming together before the biggest weeks of their college careers when they will try to bring home a national title.
"We always operate with class here," head coach Gail Goestenkors said.
And that is certainly true in sending off Beard, Tillis, Krapohl and Marsh. These women are indeed a class act in and of themselves, and Duke is all the better for having known and supported them for the past four years.
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