As the Cameron Crazies waved their hands waiting for Virginia's Monica Wright to take her five fouls to the bench, all senior Wanisha Smith could do was laugh with her teammates and breathe easy after a job well done.
With the Blue Devils down by four and a little more than six minutes to go, Virginia was poised to deliver the knockout blow. But Smith personally ignited a 11-0 run to steal the momentum from the Cavaliers and put the game safely in the win column for Duke."[Smith] had really, really big baskets today," Virginia head coach Debbie Ryan said. "She gave them good leadership today on the court, which is something that they needed because they really were down. We were about to throw the punch, and she kept us from doing it."
As the clock ticked down to 6:24 in the second half, Smith went to the free-throw line looking to return the lead to her team for the first time since the first period. She nailed both, then drew a foul to get her back to the line only one minute later. Once again, Smith showed her senior poise and drained them both to knot the score at 61. When asked what was going through her mind as she stood at the charity stripe, Smith shared her simple motivation for getting the job done.
"Just to knock them down," Smith said. "[Assistant] Coach [Al] Brown on the sideline said, 'Nish, just put them in,' so I tried to do my best with that."
On the very next possession, Carrem Gay stole the ball and advanced it up the court to Smith, who put in the easy layup to cap her personal 6-0 run and put the Blue Devils ahead for good.
During this same stretch, freshman point guard Jasmine Thomas turned on the heat at the other end of the floor to keep Duke rolling. She recorded two consecutive steals, finishing one with an easy lay-in to build the Blue Devils' lead to four. The freshman played with confidence well beyond her years, and head coach Joanne P. McCallie took notice.
"The plays [Thomas] made were huge," McCallie said. "I mean, those are game-winners. Those steals were incredible. Those layups were incredible."
After the final media timeout, Duke delivered the shot to the heart that put the game away. Junior sharpshooter Abby Waner nailed her first three of the game, and the Blue Devils went up by seven-their largest lead of the afternoon.
Despite the offensive explosion that appeared to propel the team to victory, Smith insisted that it was the play at the other end of the floor that made the difference.
"It was defense," Smith said. "We knew we had to get stops, and we got the stops at the right times. Defense was the huge key in the second half."
Duke's play--on both ends of the court-in that critical five-minute span sealed the deal in one of the most important conference games of the season. And it was the play of the veteran Smith on her senior day that was the catalyst for the Blue Devil win. She was the team's heart and soul and used her senior leadership to put Duke in better position to claim the third seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament. At the end of the game, McCallie credited both Smith and fellow senior Emily Waner for inspiring the team's performance.
"I loved how hard the team played," McCallie said. "The team played with a lot of heart and hustle, and I think it really reflected the values that both [Waner] and [Smith] had."
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