Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball is coming off its most successful season in a decade after an appearance in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Expectations are high for head coach Shea Ralph’s squad, which finished 23-10 (9-7) in 2023-24. The Commodores will return eight players from last year’s team, as they only lost guard Jordyn Cambridge to eligibility. 

Cambridge played a significant role in Vanderbilt’s success last year, and Ralph knows that, but she also knows that her team has what it takes to make up for it. Four newcomers — two first-years and two impact transfers — should bolster an already exceptionally talented group.

With their success last season comes an urgency for the Commodores to contend this season. Our staff took a look at some of the biggest questions surrounding this 2024-25 edition of Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball.

What’s the number one thing you’re looking out for from Women’s Basketball this season?

David Hernandez, Lead Sports Analyst: I’m watching to see if this team is ready to make another leap. Under Ralph, Vanderbilt jumped from 12-19 to 23-10 with a win in the First Four of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The question is: Can it go further? This program has shown it is capable of taking steps forward, but we’ll have to wait and see if it can do so consistently. Ralph’s performance as head coach earned her an extension last month, and her team is loaded with both returning and transfer talent. That’s not even to mention that Ralph nabbed the program’s first-ever five-star recruit in Mikayla Blakes. The expectations have risen for Vanderbilt, and it has to be prepared to match (and exceed) the beliefs set for it. 

Jayce Pollard, Assistant Sports Specialist: The number one thing I’m looking out for is whether Sacha Washington and Khamil Pierre can coexist in a starting lineup. They’re arguably the team’s two best players, but they play the same position and do so similarly. Both big forwards struggle to space the floor and can be thrown in the lineup at the five; however, Pierre and her midrange jumper do a better job spacing than Washington. The looming question is whether having two bigs that can’t shoot will clog up the team’s spacing, especially if Justine Pissott and Aga Makurat aren’t sharing the floor — which Shea Ralph is loath to do.

What are your expectations for head coach Shea Ralph’s team in her fourth year?

Henry Oelhafen, Deputy Sports Editor: Expectations are high for Ralph’s squad this year. After the Commodores’ stellar 2023-24 season, many expect them to perform at an even higher level this year. With most of its production returning and the addition of Blakes, the Commodores should be poised to have its strongest (and deepest) roster in several years. It’s a long road ahead, and the SEC is always difficult, but I’ll be optimistic and say Ralph and Co. will make the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year.

Connor Campbell, Senior Staff Writer: It’s the NCAA tournament or bust for Ralph and the Commodores this year. The team just snuck into the NCAA tournament via the First Four last year, winning its match against Columbia before being bounced out of the first round by Baylor. This season, I expect the Commodores to reach the NCAA tournament without going through a play-in game — and I expect them to win a couple while they’re there. Vanderbilt started 16-1 in 2023-24 before dropping a historically bad game to Missouri that sparked a chain reaction, losing five of its next six and getting eliminated in the first round of the SEC tournament. The Commodores were better than that terrible streak in 2023-24, and they’re certainly better than that now. Though they aren’t the favorites, the Black and Gold are in the discussion for this year’s SEC championships and should be a lock for the NCAA Tournament.

Which returner is going to be the X-factor for Vanderbilt this season?

Pollard: This season will hinge on just how good Pierre can be. She was arguably the second-best rookie in the SEC last season, and if she keeps that pace, the Commodores will be destined for greatness once again. That said, there are still obvious flaws in her game — particularly the accuracy of her jump shot. If she can work to space the floor a bit better and clean up some of her first-year mistakes on defense and the boards, there’s no telling where she — and this team — could go. Another player I’ll throw out there is Makurat. If she improves in her one-on-one capacity on defense and her shot continues to fall, the Commodores could be lethal.

Campbell: I agree with Jayce that Pierre is going to be a difference-maker. The sophomore is coming off an impressive first season with four double-doubles, five SEC Freshman of the Week honors and a selection to the All-SEC Freshman Team. Pierre is a hustler who sets great screens and makes the right play at the right time. I’m equally as concerned with another big on Vanderbilt, though. How can Pierre mesh in the starting lineup with a fellow X-factor in Washington? Offensively, Washington commands a lot of gravity, meaning the best lineups around her should be composed of shooters. However, with another inside big like Pierre, the paint can clog, and Washington won’t get as much space to work. We’ve seen flashes of a high-low concept where Pierre would receive the ball at the foul line for an entry pass to Washington on the block, but it hasn’t become a consistent part of the team’s offense yet. If Pierre can learn to share the floor with Washington and work on her finishing abilities, she could be the ultimate glue girl for the Commodores.

What’s Vanderbilt’s biggest weakness this season?

Grace Hall, Deputy Sports Editor: One of this team’s biggest weaknesses is its defensive uncertainty after the departure of Cambridge. Adding Penn State transfer Leilani Kapinus will certainly help, but Cambridge’s leadership will be hard to replicate. Perhaps Kapinus will surprise me, but against SEC opponents, more players than her will need to step up and play clean defense. It will help that Pierre and Washington will likely split fouls like last season, but the Commodores will need some of their shooters to create size on the perimeter. Some of their shooting guards, like Pissott and Makurat, were apprehensive about digging their heels in and playing solid defense in 2023-24. Their presence on both sides of the ball could be the difference-maker for this team. 

Campbell: Not a weakness as much as it is a “proceed with caution,” but Vanderbilt’s shooters must hit their shots. The team shot 32.4% from behind the arc last season without a single qualified shooter hitting over 40% of their 3-point attempts. For a team that plays an inside-out system, having no outside threat is a problem. With Makurat and Pissot having a full summer to train with Vanderbilt’s staff for the first time, they should have better shooting numbers than last season, but I’m still not confident it’ll be up to par.

What are your expectations for the newest Commodores?

Campbell: I think this team lives and dies by the newcomers that Ralph brought in this offseason. Yes, seven of her eight consistent rotation players returned, including Jordyn Oliver, who is freshly back from injury, but the Commodores’ fresh faces are the ones to keep an eye on. Kapinus is a 5’10” grad transfer from Penn State who was a 1,000-point scorer and two-time All-Big Ten Defensive Team selection. Even more important is Blakes, the eighth-best prospect in the class of 2024 and the best pickup in Ralph’s young head-coaching career. These two, amongst other offseason acquisitions, will be immediate contributors to a team that has already established itself as a fearsome force in the SEC. It all depends on how well these players mesh with last season’s pre-established structure.

Vincent Xu, Sports Copy Editor: I agree with Connor that the newcomers will be game changers for Ralph’s program, but I believe the returning core of Commodores is more important than anything else. The returners are the foundation of this team’s culture because they know what a winning team looks like — something that Ralph stressed at SEC Tipoff ‘25. The seven returners led Vanderbilt to its first NCAA Tournament since 2014, and they will only be better and hungrier coming out of the offseason. Newcomers like Kapinus and Blakes will tip the scales for Vanderbilt, but they are no more important than the returners.