On Dec. 9, Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball beat Butler by 11 points. The victory improved Vanderbilt’s record to 9-1. The last time Vanderbilt won at least 9 of its first 10 games was during the 2016-17 season. Head coach Shea Ralph has facilitated a resurgence within the Vanderbilt program. After the 2022-23 season, Ralph’s squad ranked 73rd in the nation and this season her squad ranks 62nd in the nation. 

By the time of our last Memorial Minutes, the Commodores sat at 7-0 and had their best start to a season since 2011. Vanderbilt has gone 2-1 since then due to suffering an 8-point loss to the No. 5 NC State Wolfpack and beating LA Tech and Butler by an average of 9.5 points.

Reality check in Raleigh 

After going 2-0 at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas, Nev. with wins over Iowa State and Northern Iowa, Vanderbilt came back to West End after Thanksgiving Break with a lot to be proud of. Four days after defeating Northern Iowa, Vanderbilt traveled to Raleigh, N.C. to face off against the powerhouse No. 5 NC State Wolfpack. 

The Commodores fell to the Wolfpack, 70-62, and Vanderbilt’s top scorers Jordyn Cambridge and Sacha Washington notched 15 and 14 points, respectively. The Commodores were exposed in transition as they scored 9 points on fast breaks to NC State’s 22 points on fast breaks. Ralph’s overall record against ranked opponents fell to 1-11 after the NC State game.

In their first game against a ranked opponent, the Commodores were overpowered in the paint as they had 15 total rebounds, while NC State had 50 total rebounds. The Commodores’ Achilles heel from last season was that they were undersized. Against the Wolfpack, Vanderbilt looked physically outmatched and outsized. A trend that killed Vanderbilt in 2022-23 came back to light against NC State.

The Commodores allowed NC State to gain a 26-point lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. To Ralph’s credit, the Commodores punched back and went on a 26-8 run to conclude the game. Vanderbilt’s chance of an upset may have been near impossible, but the Commodores fought until the bitter end.

“I would’ve loved to see that team that played in the fourth quarter throughout an entire game,” Ralph said after the game. “I think we started to finally feel like ourselves. We picked the pace up, and we were getting some rebounds and getting into transition. That’s more like how we play. There were a lot of good things to take away from this game.”

Instead of wallowing in the loss, Vanderbilt got right back on track and won its next two games. The Commodores narrowly passed LA Tech at home by a mere five points before beating the Big East’s Butler by double digits. The Commodores have not had one exact recipe for success this year, but they’re managing to close out games.

No 3-pointer, no problem

Vanderbilt brought its momentum from the end of the NC State game to the LA Tech on Dec. 3. Washington helped lead the charge for the Commodores, notching a career-high 33 points and a career-high 8 steals. The junior used her strength to her advantage against the Bulldogs and outdueled the opponents in the paint. She and the Commodores scored for a combined 27 points off turnovers that night.

The Commodores managed to end their night victorious, despite going 5-for-22 from the 3-point line. From behind the arc, Cambridge was 0-for-4, Iyana Moore was 0-for-3 and Aga Makurat was 1-for-5.

Vanderbilt’s struggles from the 3-point line carried over to its next game. Against Butler, Vanderbilt went 0-for-9 from behind the arc. The Commodores won by 11 points though, thanks to scoring 19 points off of Butler’s 24 turnovers.

To beat a team in college basketball without making at least one 3-pointer is uncommon and Ralph understands that. Moore, who went 0-for-3 against Butler, is in a dry spell. The junior has made 22.7% of her 3-point shots this season, a 15.5% decrease from her average in the 2021-22 season. Moore did not play during her sophomore season due to suffering a season-ending injury before the 2022-23 campaign.

“When they’re this young, it’s usually mental,” Ralph said about Moore’s recent 3-point struggles. “I think the week off is good. You get into the gym. You just spend some time watching the ball go through the net.”

The path ahead 

The Commodores have four games remaining before SEC play begins. Vanderbilt’s next matchup will be a clash against in-city rival Lipscomb on Sunday, Dec. 17 at Memorial Gymnasium at 1:00 p.m. CST.

The Commodores will look to extend their home winning streak to six games. Following their matchup with the 6-4 Bisons, the Commodores will face off against Dayton, Fairleigh Dickinson and Radford to round out the 2023 calendar year.

Vanderbilt’s last four opponents of its nonconference slate – Lipscomb, Dayton, FDU and Radford – have a combined record of 10-22. Against Power Five teams, they have a combined record of 0-8. Vanderbilt will look to ride into 2024 with a 13-1 record. To do that, Ralph wants her team to keep their end down and focus on the task ahead.

While the bulk of the Vanderbilt student body has gone home for December break, the Commodores remain in Nashville with a job to do. Vanderbilt will provide a holiday break for its student-athletes to go to their respective homes after the Dayton game on Dec. 20. While several students are decompressing during the break, Ralph’s student-athletes are aiming to get one step closer to an NCAA Tournament appearance. 

“It’s not time to go home yet,” Ralph said in her press conference on Friday. “It’s not time to sing Christmas carols and drink hot cocoa and eat all the things. We’re not there yet. We still have work to do. The next few days are about business. We always say we stand on business.”