‘It was her moment’: Inside Dominique Darius’ game-winner vs. Cal
Dominique Darius nailed a game-winning 3-pointer to help Syracuse beat Cal Thursday. The shot punctuates a story of profound turnaround for the fifth-year guard. Matthew Crisafulli | Contributing Photographer
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Felisha Legette-Jack didn’t care about the noise. She didn’t care that there were three and a half seconds looming on the game clock to her right. Or that her team was scrambling to finally finish an unforgettable night at the JMA Wireless Dome.
It was perhaps one of the only times in her 37-year coaching career she looked at her team and thought: “y’all can do whatever the hell you want.” All that mattered to Syracuse’s head coach was finding Dominique Darius.
On a night in which Syracuse blew a 20 point lead, conceded two late comebacks and played through three overtimes, Darius had just hit one of the clutchest baskets in the program’s recent history to help Syracuse (15-3, 5-2 ACC) ice a triple-overtime victory over Cal (10-9, 1-5 ACC). Darius finished with 19 points, including 11 across the three overtime periods.
But for Legette-Jack, this moment, where Darius flexed her right arm in celebration, wasn’t about winning one of the longest and most unpredictable games ever played in the building, although she was surely happy about that. This was something more.
“It was her moment,” Legette-Jack said. “Anybody can get out there and get an opportunity. She deserved it.”
Darius — a 5-foot-10 guard — was one of Syracuse’s biggest question marks entering the season. A former four-star recruit in the 2021 class, Darius played sparingly in four years on the West Coast at UCLA and USC. She was overlooked. Underutilized. Discouraged. When she arrived on SU’s campus, she hadn’t suited up for a regular-season NCAA basketball game in over a year.
Legette-Jack raved over her raw talent as a prospect out of high school, but Darius didn’t join her at Buffalo. Five years later, they met again at Syracuse, where Darius was just looking for a place to show who she is. And Legette-Jack had no problem giving her “the keys to the Mercedes” — exemplified with her decision to make Darius her starting point guard from Game 1.
That faith never wavered. Even when, after a hot start to the season, Darius got cold in ACC play. She was averaging 4.3 points per game over her last three contests entering Thursday. On Wednesday, Legette-Jack said she knew Darius just had to get out of her own head. She — and the whole world — now knows what Darius is capable of. She just had to show it more consistently.
When Syracuse was reeling late in the game, Dominique Darius stepped up to score 11 points across the three overtime periods. Her late-game performance featured a game-saving Promethean layup and a clutch game-winning 3-pointer. Matthew Crisafulli | Contributing Photographer
Through four quarters on Thursday, though, she still looked like she was in a slump. Darius had eight points on 3-for-9 shooting through 40 minutes of play. But all she needed was another opportunity.
Darius scored five points in the first overtime before a miraculous Lulu Twidale game-tying 3 at the buzzer kept the game going. She scored another clutch bucket in the second overtime, when she threw the ball off an opponent’s back on the inbound and scored a layup to tie the game. She added another point early in the third overtime on a free throw.
Darius then missed what Legette-Jack playfully called “two outlandish shots” late in the third overtime. But Legette-Jack refused to give up on her. Not then. Not ever. She knew who she wanted to take the final shot.
“I called on (Darius) last minute to finish,” Legette-Jack said. “She just stepped up off that bench, and she did what she could do.”
Syracuse trotted down the court and set up the ‘Horns’ offense, a set where the bigs set screens at the elbow. Uche Izoje and Journey Thompson ran to the corner to free up Olivia Schmitt and Sophie Burrows. But Darius, at the top of the key, was never going to pass it. Legette-Jack didn’t want her to, either. This was what she’d waited five years for.
Darius was isolated with Cal’s Lola Donez. She hit a crossover to her right, then another back to her left. She stepped back and let it fly.
When Darius’ shot found the net, she lifted her right arm, turned to her right and locked eyes with Legette-Jack. The fourth-year head coach hugged her point guard. She put both hands around Darius’ head and looked her in the eyes. Darius looked emotional. Legette-Jack told her what she already knew.
Dominique Darius embraces her head coach Felisha Legette-Jack after nailing the game-winning 3 in Syracuse’s triple-overtime win over Cal Thursday.Matthew Crisafulli | Contributing Photographer
It was her moment. It was finally her turn.
“A lot of people in my position would’ve given up a long time ago,” Darius said. “I got emotional because everyone wants to take the game-winning shot, but with all I’ve been through, I felt like it all came to me at once.”
“I’m grateful that I never gave up on myself, and I’m grateful that (Legette-Jack) gave me another opportunity to show what I know I’m capable of doing,” she added.
In many ways, it was a game that personified Darius’ collegiate career. Moments of chaos. Uncertainty. Second chances. But in the end, she had a shot to change it. It was just up to her to take it.
