GREENSBORO, N.C. -- An Atlantic Coast Conference championship was freshly in its grasp, and the time had come for the Duke women's basketball team to cut down the nets.
It had been a while, though, a dozen years in fact, since the Blue Devils had experienced this moment.
So Kara Lawson kept coaching her team long after the horn, holding a pair of scissors for each player until they reached the top, then pointing from below at which strand of net they should snip for themselves.
"I think it's the first net-cutting for a lot of them, so just wanted to talk them through it," she said with a smile, surrounded by confetti strewn about the court. "The heights thing is a real thing, when you get up there, sometimes it can be disorienting."
It made sense, considering Lawson had plenty of practice as a player who won a WNBA championship and played at Tennessee under late Hall of Famer Pat Summitt. And she just wanted everything to go smoothly after five years of building that created this signature moment in what Duke calls the Kara era: a resounding second-half performance Sunday that overwhelmed No. 7 NC State 76-62 to clinch the program's first ACC title since 2013.
It was also a milestone trophy-hoisting win for the 44-year-old Lawson, a first-time head coach who took over during the COVID-19 pandemic that ultimately cut her first season short after just four games.
"We knew that she was building something," said sophomore reserve Oluchi Okananwa, the ACC tournament's MVP who matched her career high with 22 points to go with 10 rebounds. "We knew she was building this. We knew this was what we were walking into, if we just bought in."
Her team certainly did that, turning its stay in Greensboro into its own redemption tour by avenging regular-season losses first to Louisville, then to No. 6 Notre Dame to reach its first final since 2017, and finally the Wolfpack.
Her team came back after being down 14 in the first half, outscoring NC State 47-26 in the second half, shooting 55.2% while holding a Wolfpack team with veteran guards back from a Final Four run to just 32.3% shooting. Okananwa and Ashlon Jackson combined to score 24 second-half points, nearly matching the Wolfpack's team total (26). And the Blue Devils pummeled the Wolfpack on the boards (26-10).
"This morning is when I had thoughts [about the journey], this morning I definitely thought of Coach Summitt," Lawson said. "Definitely thought of her this morning and how excited she would be for the opportunity that we had. And that defensive performance in the second half, man, that was close to Tennessee defense back in the day. It was pretty good."
Duke eventually got up 18 to make the final minutes a formality, even against a team that was in the final for the fifth time in six seasons, a run that included three straight titles from 2020-22.
That was on Lawson's mind, too, as her players joined fans in celebrating an imminent title late. When the horn sounded, Lawson looked to the scoreboard, gave a slight nod as though to confirm the result, then went about shaking hands with the Wolfpack as her players mobbed each other behind her.
"The biggest thing for me is just to pay homage to that we beat," Lawson said. "I mean, they've been the standard in this league for the last five years if you look at the championships they've won, how deep they've done in March. ... It's only fitting that we had to beat them to win an ACC championship, because they've been the team you have to beat."
It wasn't long, though, before her business-like expression was gone. Handshakes completed, Lawson was soon surrounded by players gathering to raise her on their shoulders and lightly toss her about, with Lawson breaking into a big smile and extending her right index finger skyward to proclaim Duke's ascension to No. 1 in the 18-team league with five AP Top 25 teams.
Later, Lawson was sitting on the stage, her right arm around the trophy with the cut-down net draped atop it as she posed for photos.
It was a special moment, too, for athletic director Nina King. King oversaw the Duke women's basketball program and ran point on the search that hired Lawson in 2020 before her own ascension to AD the following year.
King said she was in Cape Cod with family during the pandemic when former coach Joanne P. McCallie called to say she was stepping away from the job. At the time, Lawson had recently left broadcasting after her own WNBA playing career to become an assistant with the NBA's Boston Celtics, giving King an opportunity to make an I-was-just-in-the-neighborhood connection with Lawson.
King soon hired her as a first-time college head coach, though Lawson had coaching experience for USA Basketball.
Now it's on to the NCAA tournament as an opening-weekend host, with the Blue Devils eyeing a deeper push after last year's Sweet 16 showing.
"Over Kara's tenure, you could just see methodically what she's been building," said King, a former chairwoman of the NCAA tournament selection committee. "She's been steadily bringing in top recruits. We've got talent on the court, and it was just kind of watching the building blocks each year.
"This is certainly what we envisioned. ... I mean, it's been a while since Duke has been on this stage."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.