Four Things Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball Must Do in March
Time to Prove Yourselves in March
The SEC Tournament Quarterfinal loss to Ole Miss stung for several reasons. Going down 23-2 in the first quarter and 49-17 at the half against a team that already beat you once this season is not exactly the way you want to head into the biggest stage of the year. However, that loss does not define this Vanderbilt team. What the Commodores do starting this week will.
Vanderbilt is 27-4. They swept SEC Coach, Player, and Freshman of the Year honors. First-Team All-American Mikayla Blakes has been one of the most dominant players in the country all season long, and Aubrey Galvan has shown she belongs at this level since day one. They have a strong resume and the talent to accomplish everything in front of them. Now, they just have to go and do it.
If this team wants to make the kind of run that this program and this fan base has been waiting on, there are things that have to happen and things that absolutely cannot happen.
Start Fast or Go Home
This has been the conversation all season long. Even in some of the wins, the Commodores had a tendency to come out a little slow. In some of those games, it was just missed shots, and once they started to fall, Vanderbilt took total control. In the losses, the slow starts turned into full-blown disasters. Against Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament, the Dores shot 1 of 16 from the floor to open the game. You cannot do that in the NCAA Tournament and survive.
In March, there is no time to figure it out. There is no halftime reset that can save you from a 30-point hole against a team that smells blood. Vanderbilt has to come out with energy, with focus, and with the discipline to execute from the opening tip. Not from the second quarter or from the second half, but from the opening tip.
“It’s just toughness and competitiveness and having the discipline and the focus to be able to do it for 40 straight minutes,” Shea Ralph has said throughout the year. That message has never been more important than right now.
Take Care of the Basketball
The turnover bug has been one of Vanderbilt’s worst enemies at times. During the rough stretch earlier in the season when the Dores dropped a couple of games, they averaged more than 12 first-half turnovers over a three-game span and surrendered 50 points off those giveaways. That is giving away free possessions to teams that are good enough to make you pay every single time.
This team ranks sixth nationally in assists per game with 19.1, according to Warren Nolan, and has one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios in the country where they also rank sixth at 1.46. Galvan leads all freshmen nationally in assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio. The ability to take care of the ball is there. It just has to show up every night. In the tournament, one careless stretch of turnovers can end your season in a matter of minutes.
Blakes Has to Be Blakes, Support Has to Step Up
Mikayla Blakes is unguardable. Coach Ralph has said it, and I have seen it all season long. She is one of the most incredible competitors I have watched in person, and she is going to figure out a way to help Vanderbilt win whether it is scoring 30, getting steals, or shooting free throws. However, this is a team sport, and the Commodores are at their best when everyone is contributing.
Vanderbilt has had three or more players score in double figures in 27 of 31 games this season. That balance is what makes them dangerous. Galvan can go get you 18 on any given night. Justine Pissott can stretch the floor. Sacha Washington brings toughness and rebounding that this team needs.
When the ball moves and everyone is involved, Vanderbilt is a nightmare to guard. When the offense stalls and it turns into Blakes and Galvan trying to create everything on their own, that is when the Dores get stagnant.
“We can’t change everything we do for every team we play,” Ralph said heading into the postseason. “We’ve got to make sure that we stay focused on how we do what we do, and that we do it really well.”
That is the big thing. It is simple! Vanderbilt just has to be Vanderbilt, and the rest will take care of itself. This is the time of the year where you cannot afford to allow your opponent to dictate your flow.
Use the Ejection as Fuel
Something happened in that SEC Tournament loss to Ole Miss that cannot be ignored. When Shea Ralph got ejected early in the fourth quarter, Vanderbilt responded with a 27-10 run. They went from down 25 to making it an 11-point game. That fourth quarter showed the fire and the fight that this team is capable of when they play with that edge.
That is how the Dores should play every time they hit the floor. If the Vanderbilt team that finished the last nine minutes and twenty-five seconds showed up nightly, I would put them up against anyone in the tournament. Their edge and intensity was something that I had not seen to that level this year.
Ralph said something that should be the rallying cry heading into the tournament. “This changes nothing about our season. Changes nothing about what we’ve done. I think it only adds fuel to the fire for what’s ahead. I cannot wait to get back home to Vanderbilt, to Nashville, to regroup and compete for a championship in the NCAA tournament.”
That is the mentality this team needs to carry into every game from here on out. Play with that fourth-quarter energy for 40 minutes. Play like someone just lit a fire under you and there is no time to waste.
The Time is Now
This is a team that set the school record for regular-season wins. This is a team with the SEC Player of the Year, the SEC Freshman of the Year, and the SEC Coach of the Year. This is a program that Shea Ralph has built into something real, something that the rest of the country is going to have to deal with.
The NCAA Tournament is where legacies are made. This is what everyone will remember you by. What you do in March is ultimately what matters. Now, it is about locking in, playing with discipline and toughness for 40 minutes, and showing the country that this team is for real. Remember, there is no tomorrow if you fail today.
