Clemson women’s basketball is turning heads, again.

This time, they pushed No. 3 Notre Dame to the limit.

Despite a brutal 10-minute field goal drought in the first half — yes, an entire quarter of the game without a basket — the Tigers clawed back, cutting the lead to just three points in the fourth quarter.

When Hannah Kohn drained a 3-pointer to make it a one-possession game, Littlejohn Coliseum erupted.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

“We’re not good enough to just show up. Not only on game day but everything leading up to a game,” head coach Shawn Poppie said after the 67-58 loss to Notre Dame. “Now we’ve got to find ways when we’re in the game down the stretch, how do we get over the hump?

“You think about how many press conferences I’ve been in after our losses where we have it at three or five with five minutes to go, and we just don’t get over the hump,” he continued. “I got to think of some ways offensively: how do we get a good look, how do we find the right people to be able to score, all while we cannot relax on the defensive side of the ball.”

That crowd was the culmination of months of progress under Poppie’s leadership. From Day 1, the Tigers have been buying into his system, and it’s paying off.

“Credit goes to the group we’ve got in there. They’re bought into what we’re trying to do,” Poppie said after the team’s early-season game against South Carolina. “We’re in a learning curve with a bunch of new faces in there, but there’s a trust level, and we’re working to learn each other. For us, we hang our hat on the defensive side of the ball. That’s kind of why we were in the game early on.”

The Tigers started the season facing some of the toughest teams in the country.

Against No. 2 South Carolina, they showed flashes of potential, even leading after the first quarter. But consistency is the next step.

“We’re just not able to do it for 40 minutes yet,” Poppie admitted after the loss. “We’re game four, right?”

By game six, Clemson took a tough loss to No. 19 Alabama, a blowout 73-39. But they kept learning.

Fast forward to game 13 against No. 21 NC State, and the Tigers showed they could hang with a top team for four quarters — on the road, no less.

Then came the breakthrough.

Hosting No. 18 Cal, Clemson pulled off their first ranked win in nearly two years with a 69-58 victory.

Unfortunately, only 1,143 fans were there to see it.

The 4,000 people packed into Littlejohn brought an energy that nearly pushed the Tigers over the edge. It was a game that showed just how far this team has come — and how close they are to breaking through.

The Tigers fed off that crowd. Graduate transfer Anya Poole said it made a massive difference.

“As a player, we feed off that from top to bottom,” Poole said. “If you guys haven’t seen it, Loyal (McQueen) is yelling at the crowd, telling them to come on, and we feed off that. Having people here and seeing them after the game means a lot to us.”

It’s clear Poppie has them knocking on the door of a big upset.

“Absolutely,” Poole said when asked if they feel like they can get one.

The pieces are coming together, and the energy in Littlejohn is undeniable.

“We’re trying to get people out here, trying to do it the right way, like coach Poppie said, by just being a good team,” Poole continued. “Doing it the right way. Just being ourselves. A lot of people see us in jerseys, but you never get to see us as people. When the crowd is here, we get to feed into that and show you who we really are. Let y’all know that we are human beings, but we’re basketball players at the end of the day.”

Coach Poppie keeps pushing his vision.

“The plan for us here at Clemson is to build that crowd of 3,800 to come back because it’s Clemson women’s basketball playing, not who the opponent is,” Poppie said. “My hopes are for the Clemson faithful that yes, did come to cheer on Clemson because we were playing Notre Dame, is that we build this in hopefully the right way, that we left them with something to want to come back.”

“Because people like Anya Poole, Tessa Miller, you go down through my roster, we’ve got great kids in that locker room that are representing this University and this program at a high, high level,” he continued. “And I’m proud of them. I’m proud of what we’re building. It is a process. Please stay with us and come back because we do feel it, and it means a lot to us. So thank you for that.”

They’re bringing the game. Now it’s time for Clemson fans to back them every step of the way.