Energy and Execution Key as Commodores Battle No. 16 Kentucky on the Road
No. 7 Commodores Look to Win on the Road
Thursday night takes the No. 7 Vanderbilt Commodores women’s basketball team on the road to Lexington, Ky., to face the No. 16 Kentucky Wildcats at the Historic Memorial Coliseum.
The Commodores are coming off a comeback victory over the Florida Gators on Sunday and will be faced with a challenge in Clara Strack and the ‘Cats. Strack was named the USBWA National Player of the Week after a monster double-double of 33 points and 15 rebounds in a 93-73 Kentucky win over Arkansas on Sunday. As a team, the Wildcats had five players in double digits, which resulted in 93 points scored.
Kentucky has a deep scoring team with six players who average in double figures. Junior Clara Strack leads at 16.2 ppg, followed by seniors Tonie Morgan (14.7 ppg), Teonni Key (11.3 ppg), Jordan Obi (10.7 ppg), and Amelia Hassett (10.4 ppg), along with junior Asia Boone (10.1 ppg). This makes Vanderbilt’s defensive engagement and mental toughness a must, as anyone can score.
Alaina Morris of Vandy 247 asked Coach Shea Ralph about Strack and the difficulty of her size and skillset, during Ralph’s media availability.
“I think she’s a unique post player ’cause she plays so comfortably on the perimeter. The way that she shoots the ball, her little one leg turnaround jump shot in the mid post. And then they move a little bit differently than some of the teams that we just played. So it’ll be a great challenge, a different one. But I’m looking forward to seeing how much better our defense has gotten, especially one on one.”
For Vanderbilt, the key is to once again play their game on both ends of the court. Justine Pissott averages 11.5 points per game but also brings 19 blocks on the season and adds 4.6 rebounds per game. Her help on defense and the boards may be crucial and play a big part in how the game comes out in Lexington.
Blakes comes into this one averaging 25.1 points per game this season, with 4.6 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.1 steals per game. Blakes always finds a way to score while impacting the game on both ends. On Sunday, she finished with her sixth 30-point game of the season after a 24-point second half.
The Commodores have had a spell of slow starts, and fortunately for them on Sunday, they were able to overcome that. One thing that has been noticeable is the defensive breakdowns, whether in transition, which were mostly results of turnovers, or in half court situations.
After Tuesday’s practice, Coach Shea Ralph expressed her confidence to us in what she saw to address those issues.
“I thought we cleaned that up a little better towards the end of the first half and certainly in the second half. But we also played zone, and our communication was way better. So I felt like today, the things that no matter what defense we’re in that we focus on, were we rotating on time, communicating, being in our gaps, getting back in transition. All the things that really hurt us the last three games, those got better,” said Ralph on Tuesday.
With those fixes on defense and even on the offensive side, the energy has to be brought right out of the gate. Kentucky is a good team, and they will be looking for an opportunity to start a winning streak as well. With the conference slate serving up challenge after challenge, the Dores must come out confident and ready to go for 40 minutes. The clock is ticking to get things right for the postseason, and nightly play in this conference will definitely set you up for it.
“We still have essentially two months before the NCAA tournament, or right in the beginning of the NCAA tournament,” said Ralph. “The time we wanna still be playing. So we have a lot of time to get better, but we have to utilize that time intelligently.”
That sense of urgency is real. Ralph reiterated the importance of energy and how it’s time to bring it.
“So I need them to bring the right energy and effort. I need them to know that we’re gonna bring the same thing as a staff, that we’ve gotta get better at certain things and we’ve gotta stay focused and disciplined on what those are. And then they have to carry over, right? So all of those things right now really, really matter,” Ralph explained.
“Because each day that passes is one less that we get to improve, and the games are coming. I think most of the teams we have left are ranked, if not all. So we really don’t have time to play around with bad energy, bad effort, not staying focused and disciplined on our game plan and not executing it, which is what happened last week and it can’t happen again.”
Against Arkansas on Sunday, Kentucky outscored the Hogs 40-28 in the paint. The Dores outscored Florida 32-26 in the paint after an even 14 in the first half. Taking care of the paint will be key in this matchup with Kentucky on both ends. On the offensive end, how many touches will they get? It seems when the paint touches and conversions are high, teams have a hard time sticking with Vanderbilt.
However, it mostly down to taking great shots. Vanderbilt will shoot the three of course, and Mikayla Blakes especially does a great job of driving to the rim. It is key that the Dores keep themselves out of situations that force them to take ill advised shots.
“I just want us to get a great shot. I think there has to be a really good balance of the ball going inside and out, and I think you’ve gotta move the ball from side to side,” said Shea Ralph.
Moving the ball, making smart decisions, allowing the offense to flow, and staying out of the need to play catch up is what they must carry into Thursday night’s game.
“We have to be patient on offense, but we also have to do our job on defense so we don’t dig ourselves such a deep hole where we feel like we’re having to claw our way out of it every single possession. And you know, we’re taking quick shots that aren’t really who we are,” said Ralph.
You can catch the game on SEC Network+ in the ESPN app at 6 p.m. CT with Noah Frary and Christi Thomas on the call. Michelle Knezovic will handle the sideline reporting.
