Black, Makurat Deliver Game-Changing Energy Off Bench in Vanderbilt Win
Aga Makurat and Ava Black Provides Bench Spark
Yesterday in Vanderbilt’s 82-66 win over the Florida Gators, there were a few things that were taken away from this game. Mikayla Blakes is who she is, and when she gets going there’s no stopping her. The Commodores offense runs better when there are consistent paint touches, and that opens up the floor for better offensive flow. The one thing I want to touch on today is the importance of bench play.
Quickly going back to Friday’s loss at Ole Miss, Vanderbilt had zero bench points. Bench production is often a catalyst to a productive outcome, and it gives your starters needed support to go along with the heavy minutes they play. Great teams more times than not have a bench that they can rely on to bring quality minutes when a starter needs a breather.
While players like Mikayla Blakes and Aubrey Galvan often play 40 minutes a night, or close to it, as the season goes on and postseason play is reached, they will need some breaks. When that happens, players such as Jada Brown, Ava Black, and Aga Makurat will be called on.
Brown has been a consistent player off the bench this season, averaging 20.9 minutes per game. When she comes in, she normally brings a few points with her as well as some solid defense and off ball play.
In yesterday’s game against Florida, Ava Black and Aga Makurat made a huge showing in the Dores win, and it can be said that they provided a spark when it was needed the most. Coach Shea Ralph spoke to their efforts after the game.
“I knew we needed something. And I think that’s what practice is for, right? So as a coach, you just pay attention to what’s happening in practice. And we haven’t had the best practices over the last week, I would say. You know, there’s been a lot going on and we looked tired, and I knew that AGA and Ava had been practicing really well,” Ralph said.
“And even if they could come in and give us a different level of energy, that would help everyone else, right. And they came in and did way more than that, which was really cool. But it’s not like we haven’t seen that. So I knew exactly what I was gonna get.”
Black’s presence brought the energy and fire needed, especially in the gritty situations on defense and on the boards. Vanderbilt had been sluggish in both areas early on in the game, and that allowed the Gators to lead by as many as 15 in the second quarter. With 7:45 to go in the quarter, Black entered the game and immediately made an impact with a steal and a fast break layup off the turnover.
Then later on in the quarter, Black showed pure hustle, something that Vanderbilt needed to charge their battery. In a sequence that started with a Mikayla Blakes missed shot, Black grabbed the rebound, missed a shot herself, grabbed a rebound again, and dished an assist to Sacha Washington for a layup to bring Vanderbilt within two of the Gators with 3:01 left in the quarter.
That play was the embodiment of someone that wanted the opportunity and knew what to do with it. Makurat talked about Black and how she brings the energy everyday in practice. So, it was expected.
“I feel Ava is showing us every day during practices, like she’s bringing energy every day. So we know we expected that from her when we got on the floor, like we knew it’s our job to just like bring it back to life. So we did our job,” said Makurat.
Makurat brought a fantastic 21:41 of minutes played after averaging nine and a half minutes a game this season with 3.7 points per game. Aga went 3-for-5 beyond the arc yesterday, and that was big, giving the Dores another option beyond the arc. I feel that will be crucial as the season goes on. Everyone knows Justine Pissott, Mikayla Blakes, and Aubrey Galvan are major threats from three, even Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda, but to add another player off the bench that can be consistent may turn out to be an X-Factor in the later times this season.
“I mean, obviously like it’s a good feeling after, like, not playing a lot for longer periods of time, but it feels good. It feels good to be on the floor with people like Mikayla. It’s easy, it’s easy to play with her. So it was a good night. We needed energy and I feel like the bench brought it, so I’m glad I could be a part of it,” said Makurat after the game.
Yesterday in a crucial game where energy and a spark was needed, Coach Shea Ralph found out that Black and Makurat could be counted on to come in and do their job. Practice is one thing, but seeing it unfold in a live game situation builds confidence for everyone. I asked her how important it is to continue finding the help and depth pieces as the season trends towards March.
“It’s important for a couple reasons. You said it right. It’s a lot of minutes, but Mikayla and Aubrey, they don’t like coming out, so they like playing, which is helpful, but we’ve gotta give them breaks. Someone can, right. But the other part of it, it’s nice to have kids that come off the bench with confidence,” Ralph explained.
“So today was a huge thing to me for our team, but also for Aga and Ava. Ava’s done it a couple times, to be able to know, this is my job, this is what I can do because I’ve done it before. So it’s different when you get into March and you’re like, hey, good luck. You know, you haven’t played all year, but hopefully you can give us something good today. Finding kids that can do what they did today.
Mitch is a good example of that as well. Big moments during the season. They know what their job is and now they’re gonna continue to focus and have confidence because they’ve done it, not because we hope they can do it, but today they changed the game for us. So they’ve done it. And now we’ll just keep building on that. That is huge. That’s two more kids we can count on when we really need to.”
The Commodores head to Kentucky on Thursday night with a little more confidence in their depth. If this week’s practice continues building on what Black and Makurat proved against Florida, Vanderbilt’s got a stronger unit heading into the stretch run.
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