On Wednesday, head coach Shea Ralph spoke to the media about the Commodores’ 8-1 start. Junior Sacha Washington has led the charge for Vanderbilt thus far. In Vanderbilt’s 71-63 win over Louisiana Tech, Washington scored 33 points, shot a blistering 75% from the field and had 8 steals. 

“You can probably attribute most of her success right now to hard work and maturity,” Ralph said. “She’s growing up. She’s figuring out what it takes to give yourself the chance to be great.”

Washington isn’t only getting recognition for her hard work inside the building either. Thanks to her strong performance in the  Louisiana Tech game, Washington was named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s player of the week. 

Speaking more on what has helped Vanderbilt so far this year, Ralph addressed the addition and acclimation of some promising freshmen to the team. Throughout this start, these freshmen have played a strong role in adding depth to the team. 

“Our freshmen are really lucky because we need them to continue to get better,” Ralph said. “I need them to play [and] I need them to contribute.” 

Last Sunday against Louisiana Tech, freshman Madison Greene added 17 points off the bench and shot 42% from beyond the arc, adding spacing to the Vanderbilt offense. The freshman has 18.7 minutes per game and 1.6 rebounds per game. She also has 13 steals this season, which is good for second-best on the team.

“She’ll make mistakes and every freshman does,” Ralph said. “There are periods where she may not look super great. She gets down on herself but her consistent effort is her competitiveness, and I love a good competitor. [She] will compete until she passes out.” 

Looking ahead, Ralph spoke about Vanderbilt’s upcoming matchup against Butler. Butler comes off of a big win against Wisconsin.  Vanderbilt will need to focus on doing what they do well in its upcoming challenge.