For most of the first half, Sheffield were chasing. Oaklands had rhythm, confidence, and a twelve-point lead to show for it. Sheffield needed to change something. What they found—right before halftime—was the paint.
With 2:43 left in the second quarter, Oaklands were inbounding under their own basket. But the play broke down before it began. Abigail Rafferty’s pass bounced to where Shanice Beckford-Norton had just been standing. When the ball hit the floor, Destinee Walker reacted first—scooping it up and laying it in.
A scrappy basket. A broken play turned into two points. But it sparked something. Sheffield started forcing their way inside. They stopped settling. By the break, the twelve-point gap was gone.
They kept going in the third, punishing Oaklands in the paint. But the emotional climax came later.
Georgia Gayle had just knocked down two threes in the fourth—the first was from deep, the second even deeper. Sheffield had edged ahead. Oaklands came back down, looking for a response.
Then came the moment.
Madison Washington slid over to take the charge. She hit the deck. When the whistle went, she screamed. Gayle helped her up, screaming too.
It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t relief. It was belief—loud, contagious, full-body belief. The kind you can’t fake. The kind that says: maybe, just maybe, we’re going to win this.
And they did.
