No. 5 Vanderbilt Commodores Cap Perfect Home Regular Season With Win Over No. 24 Crimson Tide
Mikayla Blakes and No. 5 Vanderbilt Rolls the Tide
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – While the season is far from done, and the Dores should play in Memorial again, tonight was the regular season home finale for the No. 5 Vanderbilt Commodores. This team also had the chance to cement themselves as the first team in program history to finish a regular season undefeated at home, and finish with a program record 12 SEC wins. They would do those and more, with an 85-60 win over the No. 24 Alabama Crimson Tide.
The Dores came out comfortable tonight, paced by Mikayla Blakes’ 13 first quarter points and Justine Pissott’s eight, and went into the second quarter with a 28-16 lead. However, there were still some minor things to clean up, such as turnovers and cheap fouls, which were just fundamental fixes.
Alabama would make a run in the second quarter, drawing within two of the Commodores halfway through with strong play from Jessica Timmons. Timmons is the one that makes Alabama go. Coming into tonight, she averaged 16.6 points per game with 4.5 rebounds per game. She would go on to finish the night with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Aubrey Galvan had to sit with a couple of fouls early, and the difference was felt. Galvan is one that hardly comes off the floor, and when she’s out, things feel a bit different. However, when she re-entered with 4:00 to go in the half, she immediately drove and dished a beautiful dime to Aiyana Mitchell to put them up 33-29.
She didn’t have many points tonight, but just her presence and vision makes a world of difference on the court for this offense. I asked Coach Ralph about Galvan’s effect on the floor, even when she’s not a big scorer.
“She’s built such a strong level of trust amongst our team, and she’s ball dominant. You know, we’re able to put Mikayla off the ball and Aubrey’s gonna make every play that we need her to make with the basketball,” said Ralph. “She knows where to put everybody. They’re comfortable with her moving them around, you know, sometimes she doesn’t speak, so now they know her body language, she is just our point guard.”
The second quarter was a bit of an offensive lull. Shots were going up, but weren’t falling as much as they were in the first quarter. Most of the shots that were missed were from beyond the arc and showed the importance of needing to get paint touches.
Finally, with 1:44 to go in the half, Jada Brown drained a corner three to extend the Dores to a 36-29 lead. On that play, Alabama’s Naomi Jones went down on a closeout on Brown and was in deep pain. She would leave the game, escorted off the court with little to no weight placed on her right leg. She would not return.
The Commodores would take a 36-32 lead into halftime, and while they led, the second quarter was not a great quarter of ball for Vandy. Alabama won that 10 minutes 16-8.
As we have seen this season, it is always the halftime adjustments, and the Dores came out and immediately took the game by storm and ran out to a 12-0 run to start the third quarter, taking a 48-32 lead before you knew it. Other than a Blakes’ three, the Commodores got to the paint and capitalized. They also forced Alabama into uncomfortable situations that resulted in fouls, which placed the Dores in the bonus just four minutes into the quarter.
Mikayla Blakes went to work and took the game over with 18 points scored in the third quarter to put her at 32 for the night. She put the Dores up 67-48 to head into the fourth quarter with a three pointer from the top of the key as the clock ran out.
That was her 11th 30-point game of the season, and she put herself in more elite company as the second NCAA player this century with five straight 30-point games against ranked teams. The other to do that was Megan Gustafson from Iowa in the 2018-19 season. Gustafson had six straight. Blakes would go on to finish the night with 35 points, five assists, four rebounds, four steals, and one block.
She is such a team first person, and afterwards I just wanted her to tell me how it feels to be her and where she gets this dominance from.
“I just think the main thing when I play, I know teams are gonna try and shut me down, and I don’t want to let that be easy because I know it’s gonna be harder for the team, and I don’t know, it makes them feel successful and to go on a run,” said Blakes.
“So I think the more I don’t allow myself to be shut down, I’m able to find the ball, I’m able to cut screens for teammates, do stuff like that. It just produces those things. And I would just say it kind of comes naturally and just playing against my brother and just wanting to be competitive. So, I think that it lets me be where I’m today.”
Sacha Washington was back tonight and looked good in the paint. Washington had four points in the first half, but after the break she got her touches and converted. Sacha was 7-for-10 from the field with 17 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks, and two steals in this contest. Vanderbilt took the point advantage of 34-28 and really pressed the issue in the second half.
She has been here from the start of this whole process with Coach Ralph, and for her to see the fruits of her labor and this team’s labor is a great story, but the job isn’t finished.
“I think it’s really special to me, just to see the growth over these last five years,” said Washington. “I will honestly never forget this season. I’ll never forget this journey. It’s been amazing, and I am so excited for it to keep going.”
This team is a special one, and they set a few program records and accomplishments tonight. The Dores finished the regular season undefeated at home with a 16-0 record for the first time in program history. They set the program record with 12 SEC wins in a season. This is their first time with seven wins vs. ranked teams in a season since 2000-01, first time with seven wins over ranked teams in a regular season since 1995-96, first 26-win season since 2008-09, and tonight they secured at least a No. 3 seed for the SEC Tournament.
The Dores have much more left to accomplish, starting with a quick drive to Knoxville on Sunday to face the Lady Vols at 2:00 PM ET/1:00 PM CT on ESPN.
This team is a great group, and what they are doing is special. Coach Ralph has the right people, but she also has the right players, and she will continue to get them to Nashville.
“The right people will end up here and the great players that we need to get, we have an eye for that. We can get them both. They don’t have to be mutually exclusive and that is what’s so special about this team,” said Ralph.
“Yeah, we have really great people. We have the right people, but damn, I’ve got some good players too. I’ve got great players. I’ve got the best player in the country and the best freshman in the country. Then we have Sacha. Today, she almost had a triple-double. The improvement, so we’re gonna develop ’em. We just have to make sure that we get the right ones.”
