CLEMSON — A game to remember is a short and simple way to describe the emotions junior Hannah Kohn will carry with her after Clemson’s 53–51 victory over No. 9 Duke Sunday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum.

But for Clemson (19-9, 10-6 ACC), it was more than just a win. It was a moment that they have been waiting on and preparing for.

On Senior Day, in a huge crowd of fans, with emotions of players past and present, Clemson defeated a Duke team that had not lost a conference game all season. It marked the Tigers’ first win over a top 10 team since 2022, and the program’s first time reaching 10 ACC wins since the 2000–01 season.

For a program that has struggled for more than two decades, it felt like proof of something bigger and proof that Shawn Poppie’s investment in the program is working.

And all that proof came down to the last nine seconds of the game on Sunday.

Duke (20-7, 15-1 ACC) had just drained a three-pointer in the left corner that put the Blue Devils up one with nine seconds to play. Littlejohn Coliseum had went from a madhouse just seconds before to almost complete silence, as the more than 3,000 people in the building were stunned.

Inside the Clemson huddle, after Poppie, called timeout was Hannah Kohn with tears in her eyes. She was the player who had just given up the go-ahead three. She was having a tough day, especially on the offensive end where she had missed all four of her three-point attempts.

“We joked in the locker room,” Poppie said. “You know she had just given up a three right before that, which we had talked about in the timeout. And so for her to give that up, she was in tears.”

Mia Moore understood what needed to happen and she knew what to expect.

“(Poppie) figured that they were going to come at me and that somebody was going to be wide open, which was Hannah,” Moore said. “I tried to find her, and I was just like, Please go in, please go in.”

Moore passed the ball to Kohn, who was standing behind the three-point line.

“Mia assisted Hannah with that shot and set it up nicely,” Poppie said.

With tears literally in her eyes, Kohn drained the game winner with three seconds to play.

“To make a big shot right back behind it with tears in her eyes, I’m not sure I have ever seen a game winner with someone shooting it with tears in her eyes,” Poppie said.

Kohn had redeemed herself in one of the most exciting and emotional ways ever.

“That was just a wild moment,” Moore said. “It was a crazy moment.”

Weeks earlier, Kohn found herself in Poppie’s office with a message. She wanted him to keep believing in her. Kohn asked him not to give up on her. And for Kohn, she delivered in the biggest way possible.

“For her to step up and make (that shot), that was obviously big for her, but also for us,” Poppie said.

Poppie credited the team’s preparation and mindset during their bye week for putting them in position to execute when it mattered most on Sunday. There were multiple days in a row, they went over late-game-sideline-situations out of bounds.

“I thought it was unbelievable execution,” Poppie said. “I’m not sure (Kohn) missed all week on all of our sideline out-of-bounds.”

And she did not miss on Sunday. The difference this time, however, is Kohn had tears in her eyes.