Commodores Make a Statement: No. 5 Vanderbilt Blows Past No. 4 Texas in Memorial Gym
While watching the #4 ranked Texas women’s basketball team’s impressive collection of athletes warming up in Memorial Gym, I told my daughter Vandy might be in for a tough night in this matchup of top 5 teams.
I guess dear old dad doesn’t know ball.
The #5 Commodores blitzed the Longhorns early and cruised to a surprisingly lopsided win. In doing so, Vanderbilt made several emphatic statements: They cemented themselves among the elite of the SEC and served notice that this is a team that can make a run to the Final Four. Mikayla Blakes, with yet another performance of over 30 points, established herself as the best player in the conference and someone who deserves serious consideration for national player of the year. Aubrey Galvan continues to improve every game and put herself among the favorites for freshman of the year – both SEC and nationally. Heck, even coach Shea Ralph should be getting love as a candidate for Coach of the Year.
The start of the game couldn’t have been much better for Vandy as they jumped out to a 27-15 lead after the first quarter in front of an electric atmosphere of 5173. The Commodores came out red hot and shredded the SEC’s top ranked defense early, shooting 75% in the first quarter, including 4-5 from three.
Texas tried to make a game of it, scoring the first 6 points of the second quarter to pull within 27-21. But Vandy would answer by scoring the next 7 points to go up 34-21 and the Longhorns would not get within single-digits the rest of the game.
The Commodores would take a 47-30 lead into halftime and led by as many as 26 at 61-35 with just over five minutes left in the third quarter.
Vandy was once again led by their dominant backcourt. Blakes, who is currently the top scorer in the nation, finished with 34 points – her fifth straight game of 30 or more points. Galvan looked like Curly Neal from the Harlem Globetrotters, dazzling the crowd with behind the back dribbling wizardry and no-look passes throughout the game. The freshman finished with 18 points and 5 assists. Both players didn’t exit the game until the final minute.
Forward Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda seemed to play with a little more pep in her step against her former team. She had 11 points, including a big three at the end of the first quarter, along with 6 rebounds. She also played brilliantly on defense with 4 steals in the game.
Justine Pissott helped set the tone early scoring all 9 of her points in the first half on 3-6 from three. The Commodores also got good minutes off the bench from Aalyah Del Rosario. The young post who has seen sparse minutes most of the season came into the game ahead of Aiyana Mitchell – who is typically the first post off the bench but still appears limited after taking a shot to her nose. While Del Rosario didn’t score, she provided a boost against the Longhorns imposing frontline in her 12 minutes with 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks.
Texas forward Madison Booker, who was the preseason favorite for SEC Player of the Year led the Longhorns with 20 points – many of those in the 4th quarter when the game was already decided. Breya Cunningham finished with 14 points, but played just 15 minutes after fouling out with seven seconds left in the third quarter.
The Commodores finished the game shooting 51% from the field, 9-19 (47%) from three, and 21-25 (84% from the line).
The Longhorns finished at 38% shooting, just 3-15 (20%) from three, and 7-9 (78%) from the line.
Vandy won the rebounding battle 40-37, although Texas had 18 offensive boards for 19 second chance points compared to 9 offensive boards for 4 second chance points for the Commodores.
The win caps an impressive week for Vanderbilt after they beat top 10 Oklahoma by a convincing 102-86 final score Monday night. But beating Texas, especially in the manner the Commodores did, will really garner headlines and help seeding in March. Vandy improves to 24-2, 10-2 in the SEC, and looks to continue the momentum against Georgia in Athens Sunday.
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