"Great moments are born from great opportunities." The famous opening lines to Herb Brooks' pregame speech in the movie "Miracle" (2004) do not just apply to ice hockey. In a team sport like basketball, individual moments often decide games, seasons and championships. Take them, and glory is within reach. Let them pass, and spend the rest of your life wondering, "What if?"
Liz Moynihan was presented with one such opportunity on Friday night.
With Tufts ahead of Misericordia by two points with just nine ticks left on the clock, the ball fell into the hands of senior Christine Marks, the Cougars' leading scorer in both the game and season. There was no one between her and the basket, and all she had to do was go through the same motions she had millions of times before — a simple layup — and the game would be tied.
Moynihan never gave her the chance. As Marks brought the ball above her head, the Tufts sophomore reached over from behind, disrupting the shot of a player that has four inches on her and knocking the ball loose. Senior Tiffany Kornegay recovered the loose ball and, a few free throws later, the game was over.
"She gets that offensive rebound, and my only thought is ‘she can't score,'" Moynihan said. "I honestly wasn't even thinking about the foul, and from there I didn't even know where the ball went. I look, and Tiff is sprinting up the court with it and the crowd is going insane. From the moment [Marks] didn't have it in her hands anymore, I knew we had it."
Moments can decide games. They can also turn them around. Kornegay, along with classmate Kate Barnosky, experienced that Saturday night. Johns Hopkins had come storming back in the second half and with stifling defense tied the game for the first time since the opening minutes. Everything was going the Blue Jays' way until Kornegay timed her leap on a missed jumper almost perfectly, snatching a rebound out of the hands of her opponents. She then used her instinctive connection with Barnosky, one fostered from years of experience together, to pick her out, executing a precise bounce pass that set Barnosky up for a mid-range jumper.
Johns Hopkins never drew even again.
"We had an offensive lapse for a while, but we kept talking about getting defensive stops and outworking them," Barnosky said. "We knew if we got stops we'd eventually convert on the offensive end."
Less than a minute later, Tufts underclassmen Hayley Kanner and Caitlin McClure had their chance. After a defensive stop, Kanner, a freshman, received the ball in the post with the Jumbos still up two. With Johns Hopkins star junior forward Alex Vassila guarding her, she executed a perfect post move, freeing up just enough space to turn around and bank in a shot.
"Tonight, Hayley Kanner stepped up, which was huge," coach Carla Berube said. "I told them all that they aren't freshmen anymore. You're no longer a newcomer."
On the next possession, McClure, a sophomore guard who had made just two three-pointers in the team's past four games, found herself open in the corner. She didn't hesitate, knocking down a momentum-swinging three.
"Caitlin hit a huge three at a really crucial time," Berube said. "I've been wanting her to step up all year and she has."
The ability to capitalize on these moments doesn't materialize out of thin air. Some might credit the coach, but Berube is quick to swing the accolades back to her players. Instead, the most likely reason for their resilience in the face of overwhelming pressure is a team that got tired of hearing that they couldn't do it.
"Since Day One, we've had a little chip on our shoulder that we still have," Barnosky said.
No one mentioned this Tufts squad in the preseason. Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin and Colby all garnered plenty of coverage in the NESCAC, but the Jumbos were seen as too young, too small and too underwhelming. Kornegay and Barnosky were told that they couldn't fill the gigantic shoes of Vanessa Miller (LA '11) and Colleen Hart (E '11). McClure saw minimal playing time as a freshman, while Moynihan lost her starting job after struggling early in the season. Kanner had plenty of athletic ability but appeared too raw for the daily grind of the conference.
"They are a confident bunch," Berube said. "People didn't expect a lot out of us, but we did. I don't think we are that surprised at all that we could put together this type of run and this type of season."
Even this weekend, the team felt disrespected at times on its own court.
"Hopkins came in here, and they were acting like they owned the place," Moynihan said. "That's stuff that just fires us up."
The Jumbos started proving the critics wrong one-by-one, and after a while, they couldn't stop themselves. They lost their first two games this season but have won 23 of 27 since. In many respects, they looked unstoppable.
Except at the free-throw line.
For a team so talented at winning the individual moments, they also struggled with the most definitive one, as the free throw is the only true solo effort in basketball. The battle is internal, a fight to let your muscle memory take over while pushing jitters into the back of your mind. Tufts shot just 66 percent from the line for the season — second-worst in the conference — and their 13-for-23 effort against Misericordia on Friday almost cost them their tournament lives.
"It's something we talk about daily," Berube said. "I think they hear me in their sleep on just how important free throws are and how in big games it's going to shine. Luckily, we came out [Friday night] with the ‘W' despite missing those free throws, but [Saturday night] we had to make them if we wanted to win."
Like clockwork, everything game together on Saturday. They began the game by making all six of their first-half attempts. Moynihan made two more. Kornegay added a pair. Barnosky hit one more, and suddenly the Jumbos had made 11 straight.
"It comes down to focus," Moynihan said. "It is something that Coach always has stressed. It is something we work on at every practice and every shootaround. Something just clicked today, people realized they needed to step up, and they did it."
The team finished 19-for-25, with impressive individual performances all around. Freshman Kelsey Morehead, who shot below 50 percent for the season, was 3-for-4. Kornegay, who has often struggle from the line in her career, made both of hers. And with the game coming down to the wire, Barnosky continued to thrive, finishing 9-for-10.
"[Barnosky] is the one we want on the line, no doubt, and that is why the ball was in her hands at the end," Berube said. "She's the one we trust."
Against Johns Hopkins, the Jumbos took advantage of yet another individual opportunity. But like Herb Brooks' USA squad, Tufts has no intention of settling for winning just one game. And with good reason: they are just a few moments away from a lot more.
"We aren't stopping here," Berube said. "The goal is Michigan, so let's do it.
