More than anything, Tuesday’s game was a battle between coaches. In one corner you had Merchant, who had won one NCAA Tournament game (which was Sunday) heading into the game. In the other corner was Joanne P. McCallie, MSU’s former bench boss who led the Spartans to the 2005 National Championship game and the Sweet 16 one year later.

Not surprisingly, from the outset, the crowd was firmly in Merchant’s corner. During pre-game introductions, the crowd channeled its negative energy from McCallie into positive energy for Merchant, giving her a rousing, almost chill-inducing ovation.

For purposes of full disclosure, I thought if MSU lost by less than 20 it would be as good as a win. While Merchant’s ovation was unreal, the game that transpired during the next two hours or so was unbelievable.

The best part of the game was seeing Merchant completely outcoach McCallie in every conceivable way.

While Allyssa DeHaan was useful in helping the Spartans break Duke’s press, she was, for the most part, ineffective offensively — especially considering how physical the game was. Merchant had no problem inserting junior center Lauren Aitch in DeHaan’s place. The move worked out perfectly as Aitch provided the physical presence that DeHaan couldn’t, scoring 15 points with six rebounds and two blocks in her 18 minutes of play.

More importantly, Merchant somehow managed to prepare her team enough with a one-day prep to contain the team’s usually inflated turnover total to only 14.

And judging by the fact that she only played seven players, Merchant and her staff identified which players would be most effective against Duke’s press.

In the game, not only did Merchant put the stamp on Coach P, she put her stamp on this program.

While the team has struggled at points this season, Tuesday’s game is the perfect example of heart and pure grit and determination beating out pure talent. McCallie could’ve had 60 McDonald’s All-Americans on her roster that night and it would not have made one difference. Merchant had prepared her team to not be intimidated by the name “Duke” — something McCallie couldn’t accomplish in 2006, when the Spartans did indeed lose by more than 20 to the Blue Devils in the Sweet 16.

These are the type of wins that build programs. These are the type of wins that can make a coach an icon.

Regardless of what happens in Saturday’s Sweet 16 game against Iowa State, this win was no fluke. Merchant’s program is on the rise and wins like these and the wins she has the chance to pick up next weekend will take care of the second part.