Vanderbilt WBB Opens SEC Play with 17 Point Victory Over Arkansas
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Most basketball coaches would be thrilled with a blowout win on the road to open conference season. They would typically be even more thrilled when the team is off to the best start in program history.
Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph isn’t like most coaches.
Despite her #13 ranked Commodores cruising to an 88-71 victory over Arkansas in Bud Walton Arena, Ralph wasn’t satisfied – particularly with lapses in focus in the second half after building up a significant lead.
“I think there are lots of things we can clean up. I thought we gave them too many open threes,” Ralph said after the game. “There were moments in the second half where I kept pushing my team to step on their necks. We should’ve beaten them by double what we beat them by.”
With the win, the Commodores are now 14-0, which is the best start in the program’s illustrious history.
The Razorbacks tried to make a game of it early, racing out to an 11-5 lead to start the contest. The Commodores answered with a 15-1 run and were never seriously threatened again.
Vandy was once again led by star sophomore Mikayla Blakes, who matched her season-high with 35 points and had a career high 8 assists.
She was followed by the exciting freshman point guard Aubrey Galvan, who did not look overmatched in her first test against SEC competition. Galvin finished with 14 points, 6 assists and 3 steals in her conference debut.
“She’s still a freshman,” Ralph said of her rookie point guard. “One of the things people said about her is that she’s too small for our league. She took that personally. She plays a lot bigger than she is because she brings savviness, confidence, and competitiveness.”
Still, her performance wasn’t perfect.
“I would like her to stop turning the ball over with crazy passes,” Ralph said, with a chuckle. “But if that’s all I have to worry about from her for right now, then I’ll take it.”
Senior post Sacha Washington was the only other Commodore in double figures, finishing with a double-double ‘13 points, 13 rebounds, to go with 3 blocks.
With the brutal SEC schedule ahead, Ralph hopes to see more of a killer instinct from her team.
“I’m never happy, but, this is where I like to live.” Ralph said I think I can be more honest with this team because I think our ceiling is really high. I need this team to understand that every possession matters. At the end of the day, our vision here is to win championships. We have a team that can compete for championships. But if we play like we did in stretches of the second half, that won’t happen, and they need to hear that from me right now.”
The next game will serve as a nice barometer, with national power LSU coming to Memorial Gym Sunday.
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