March 29, 2021. The battle was fierce, the stakes were high, and for Baylor, it all came down to one final shot. UConn had the lead, but Baylor had the ball—one last chance to fight their way into the Final Four. DiJonai Carrington drove left, spun through the lane, and rose for a jumper that could have been the biggest shot of her career. Instead, she hit the floor, stunned. UConn ran the other way, celebrating their 69-67 victory. For Carrington, the moment has never faded. And as Angel Reese recently revealed, it’s one she’ll never forget either. There’s one factor that has kept the instance all the more alive.

On a recent episode of her podcast, Unapologetically Angel, Reese revisited that controversial final possession with Carrington herself.

“The moment I will never forget,” Reese said, “was when y’all was in a bubble in the last shot. Talk about it. Cause I thought it was a foul. I thought it was a foul. Bro.”

Dijonai, still carrying the weight of that moment, agreed. “Girl. It was crazy. And I still—I’ll go back and watch that game. But once it gets to the last possession, I dead turn it off. Like, I cannot watch it.” She then admitted that it wasn’t until recently, nearly four years later, that she had watched the play again. “I recently watched it with NaLyssa.”

Even for NaLyssa Smith, Carrington’s former Baylor teammate, and current partner, that final play left lingering doubts. After years of believing she was open for a pass, Smith and Carrington finally sat down to rewatch the sequence.

“Liz tried to be mad at me after that game,” Carrington revealed. “For not throwing the ball to her. Cause the play was to get it to her first. And then I was the second option.” But it so happens, Smith wasn’t really open for the now-Dallas Wings star to pass the ball. She was left to expect the reality all those years later.

That 2021 NCAA showdown was one for the books. Carrington came off the bench, torching the defense with 22 points, 2 steals, and 3 assists, while Smith dominated with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Their efforts nearly punched Baylor’s ticket to the Final Four—until the fateful no-call changed everything.

For Carrington, it was a defining performance. For Smith, it was a lesson in hindsight. And for Angel Reese, it was almost shocking—four years had passed before they finally sat down to watch the tape. But even after all those years, the play remains a flashpoint—once a national controversy, now reexamined through NaLyssa’s lens on a more personal, team-specific level.

The No-Call That Still Haunts: Carrington, Reese, and a Moment Frozen in Time

For Carrington, that night in the NCAA tournament isn’t just a memory—it’s a wound that never quite closed. A shot went up, a whistle stayed silent, and in the blink of an eye, Baylor’s season was over. Even then, head coach Kim Mulkey stood frozen in disbelief, arms outstretched, waiting for a call that never came.

“I personally don’t see it as a controversial call,” Carrington said in 2021. “I’ve seen the replay—one girl fouled me in my face, and one fouled me in my arm.”

Even NBA star LeBron James tweeted, “Cmon, man!!! That was a foul!!” while referring to the Aaliyah Edwards and Olivia Nelson-Ododa’s block on Carrington.

In the post game press conference the then Baylor Head Coach Kim Mulkey also stated “What did you see? Then write it like that. You don’t need a quote from me. I’ve got still shots and video from two angles. One kid hits her in the face, and one kid hits her on the elbow.”

Now, years later, as Carrington and Reese navigate the WNBA and looming CBA battles, that moment resurfaces. Between discussions of labor rights and league negotiations, there’s still room for nostalgia.