From prep to a win, many steps involved
Virginia State women’s team has its busy day documented
Few basketball coaches would open the doors to their team, practice and locker room on the first day of their conference tournament.
Nadine Domond is not one of those coaches. The first-year Virginia State coach had no qualms about permitting The Baltimore Sun exclusive access to her team’s debut Tuesday at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.
In fact, Domond, who helped Iowa capture a pair of Big Ten regular-season titles and a tournament championship between 1994 and 1998 and played for the WNBA’s New York Liberty and Sacramento Monarchs, viewed it as a rare opportunity.
“This can be archived for history,” she said.
Here is a look at how Tuesday unfolded for the No. 7 seed Trojans (11-15, 7-8 CIAA), who faced No. 10 seed Livingstone (11-17, 5-11) in the first round of the tournament.
8 a.m. In a meeting room on the lobby level of Hotel Monaco, the 47-year-old Domond, who was hired on June 1 to helm Virginia State, reflected on what has been a challenging season. Four days before the opener on Nov. 12 against Seton Hill, freshman Mihjae Hayes, the projected starter at point guard, tore the ACL in her right knee in a noncontact drill during practice. On Dec. 10, sophomore power forward Victoria Hinton tore her left ACL and meniscus and sprained the MCL in a 59-58 loss to Mount Olive.
In late January, a COVID-19 outbreak shut down the program for about a week. Then on Feb. 6, senior shooting guard Shayla Sweeney tore her ACL in a 66-64 win against Lincoln.
With only nine players available for the tournament, the Trojans have leaned on senior point guard Sommer Blakemore, an All-CIAA first-team selection on Monday, to set the tone, and Domond said the
players’ resiliency reminds her of a saying by Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer for whom Domond played with at Iowa and coached for at Rutgers from 2016 to 2022.
“She would always say, ‘You play the hand you’re dealt with, you don’t complain about it, you figure it out, and you play to win,’ ” she said. “They constantly do that.”
8:30 a.m. The players and coaches gathered for a breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, bagels and fruit. Domond asked assistant coach Kevin Harris to devise a box-and-one defense that the Blue Bears might employ to limit Blakemore, who leads the team in points per game (14.8) and assists (3.8) and ranks second in rebounds (4.5) and steals (2.2). “I would because she’s our engine,” Domond said of Blakemore.
The players and coaches boarded a bus to trek to UMBC in Catonsville for a shootaround.
9:15 a.m.
10 a.m. The players began warming up in an auxiliary gym inside the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. Players teased team manager Jonah Lambert for playing “Favorite Song” by Toosii, but when he changed the song, he got bombarded again. “I never know what to play sometimes,” he said.
10:30 a.m. Domond whistled practice dead and assessed a foul to a player trying to make a steal. “We only have four subs!” she reminded the team. The players on defense also did five push-ups each for failing to grab a rebound.
11 a.m. Blakemore and Domond had some philosophical differences over how to run the offense. After the bus ride from UMBC to the hotel, Domond asked Blakemore to stay behind for a chat. Later, Domond and Blakemore said the matter was quashed with Blakemore adding, “I have to be open and ready to accept” Domond’s coaching.
11:30 a.m. After a brief film session, the shootaround ended.
12:30 p.m. The players dined on a lunch of fettuccine alfredo, chicken, Caesar salad and bread.
1:15 p.m. Everyone retired to their rooms to rest, nap, or watch the first-round game between No. 8 seed Johnson C. Smith (11-15, 6-10) and No. 9 seed Virginia Union (13-15, 5-11), which Johnson C. Smith won.
3 p.m. The team left the hotel for CFG Bank Arena.
4 p.m. The coaches reviewed keys to the game against the Blue Bears. Harris punctuated his belief that the team has three of the best guards in the CIAA by punching the dry-erase board. “Y’all be [expletive]-ing!” he yelled. “I’m here to win!”
5:12 p.m. Domond gave the team one last piece of advice. “Let’s kick [expletive] and take names!” she said. 5:13 p.m. The game began 43 minutes after its scheduled tip-off of 4:30 p.m.
5:25 p.m. Starting power forward Kylah Webb injured her right knee while getting fouled after converting a layup. In tears, the 6-foot-1 senior needed two people to limp off the court and into the training room with athletic trainer Ke’Ara Tucker.
5:40 p.m. Webb was carted back to courtside to watch the game. Asked by Domond for an update, Tucker said, “For the game, she’s done.”
6:12 p.m. The first half ended with the score tied at 31. Virginia State squandered a 26-10 advantage with less than eight minutes left in the second quarter and was outscored 21-5 by Livingstone for the remainder of the period. The Blue Bears owned advantages in second-chance points (12-2), points in the paint (22-16) and turnovers (10 to the Trojans’ 21). In the locker room, Domond preached serenity to the players, saying, “The first half is over. All we’re guaranteed is 20 minutes.” Webb informed Domond that her right knee, which underwent an ACL operation before, buckled and felt “loose.”
6:54 p.m. Junior power forward Kamani Jones limped off and kept any weight off her left ankle with 1:32 left in the third quarter. She returned to the bench, but not the game.
7:02 p.m. Virginia State trailed 45-41 after three quarters. Domond reminded the players, “You’re going to have to dig deep. There is no tomorrow.”
7:35 p.m. The game ended with the Trojans winning, 66-63, despite getting outrebounded 42-29, including 23-4 on the offensive glass, and giving up 44 points in the paint. Junior shooting guard Raija Todd scored seven of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter (all on free throws, including four in the final minute) and played all 40 minutes to earn Most Valuable Player honors.
7:40 p.m. Domond congratulated the players but cautioned there is much room for improvement. “We’ve got to be better, but way to fight back,” she said. She said Wednesday’s schedule includes a film session and a walkthrough before facing No. 2 seed Lincoln (18-8, 12-4) at 4:30 p.m.
7:50 p.m. In a postgame news conference, Todd said the players didn’t panic despite facing an eight-point deficit in the third quarter because of the coaches. “They believe in us, and we kept pushing, and we kept making the right plays and making the right defensive stops,” she said. Blakemore, who amassed 13 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals before fouling out with 66 seconds left in the game, said the uncertain availability of Webb and Jones won’t bother their teammates. “It’s just two more people we’ve got to play for and two more people that have to step up, and we’re ready for it,” she said.
In the end, there’s only one thing that matters, Domond told the players. “We live to see another day,” she said. “We’ve got another 40 minutes.”