This team is for real.
If wins against No. 6 LSU and No. 7 Michigan haven’t made that clear, then I’m not sure what will. Led by one of the best players in the country, Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt has won its way to a 19-0 record. Blakes is the clear star of the show, but she hasn’t done it all on her own. Head coach Shea Ralph is building a perennial powerhouse on West End, and her progress is finally making itself apparent — the Commodores are the No. 5 team in the nation.
The ‘Dores have been steamrolling recent SEC foes, taking down Missouri, Texas A&M and Mississippi State — beating the former two by 31 and 40 points, respectively. It’s one thing to dominate opponents in nonconference play, but it’s another to be blowing out SEC teams.
Their most recent win over Michigan, though, was perhaps the most impressive. In the Coretta Scott King Classic on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Commodores defeated the seventh-ranked Michigan Wolverines, 72-69, in a hard-fought victory. Winning at home is one thing, but doing it on a neutral court is a whole different story.
Ralph and Co. aren’t afraid of what’s ahead, either.
“We’re not running from anything,” Ralph said after the win over Mississippi State. “We’re here. We’re [going to] meet every challenge face on with the day that we’ve been given.”
And they are most definitely here. While the team won’t be running away from challenges, it has to look ahead to its future competition. Vanderbilt will face eight opponents ranked in the AP Poll in its next 11 games — highlighted by its bout against No. 2 South Carolina on Jan. 25 and contest against No. 4 Texas on Feb. 12.
Ralph and the rest of the squad have certainly circled these matchups on their calendars, but the most important date of all is Sunday, March 15: Selection Sunday. Their expectations for themselves are set much higher than an undefeated start to the season, and with the reputation of a top five-ranked team in the country, so are everyone else’s.
Turning up the heat
Where else to begin but with the legend of Mikayla Blakes? The sophomore has somehow found a way to top her historical first year with the team — one where she broke the NCAA women’s single-game freshman scoring record with 55 points against Auburn. Whose record did she break, you may ask? That’s right, her own record of 53 points, previously set against Florida about two and a half weeks prior.
Despite all this record-setting, Blakes has managed to look even better and more polished through the start of her second season as a ‘Dore. The New Jersey native is averaging 25.0 points, 4.4 assists and 3.3 steals per game on 46.0% from the field. Not only has she improved in these categories compared to last year’s numbers, but she has also decreased her turnovers and fouls relative to the 2024-25 season.
Blakes kicked off conference play with a pair of 30-point nights against Arkansas and No. 5 LSU, and, despite some struggles with efficiency, has kept it full throttle. She scored 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting in just 29 minutes against Texas A&M, but her star power didn’t fully come through until the following game. Blakes dropped a season-high 38 points in a narrow road victory over Mississippi State, in response to which Ralph had nothing but good things to say.
“We did what we had to do down the stretch with lots of contributions from everyone,” Ralph said, “especially from our relentless competitor and leader, Mikayla Blakes.”
Even after a season-low 14-point performance against No. 7 Michigan, Blakes is firmly in the race for the John R. Wooden Award — awarded to the top player in the country.
But Blakes isn’t the only one who has been turning up the heat this season; the team as a whole has been lighting it up from deep this year. The Commodores rank No. 17 nationally with a 37.0% 3-point percentage, and they are fifth in Division I with 10.1 3PM per game.
Justine Pissott leads the team in both 3-point makes (59) and efficiency from downtown (44.4%), but Blakes and first-year sensation Aubrey Galvan have also been cashing it in from deep.
Efficient shooting from beyond the arc, coupled with Blakes’s incredible talent and ability, makes this team fearsome and dangerous down the stretch. They’re playing with fire, and everyone wants in on the fun.
All hands on deck
The box score after every game might not show it, but Vanderbilt is full of players who know their role and play it perfectly.
Let’s start with Pissott, who transferred in from Tennessee after the 2022-23 season. In her sophomore season as a ‘Dore, she shot just 35.6% from 3-point range. This year, she’s nearly 10 percentage points higher. The senior from New Jersey is a sniper from deep, ranking in the top 15 in the country in both 3-point makes and 3-point percentage. The prototypical “3 & D” wing, Pissott has shot her way to being the team’s second-leading scorer behind Blakes.
Galvan deserves her flowers, too. The freshman from Deerfield, IL, has taken the role of the pass-first point guard to hold down the backcourt alongside Blakes. She hasn’t just survived in this position; she’s thrived. Galvan leads the team in minutes played and is a force to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball. She scores 11.5 points per game to go along with 6.3 assists (fourth in the SEC) and averages a clean 3.0 steals per game. While Galvan has also had some efficiency struggles, she’s hit enough clutch shots to create a mixtape of them.
OH MY AUBREY GALVAN pic.twitter.com/wMgvOtE53K
— Vanderbilt WBB (@VandyWBB) January 19, 2026
Sacha Washington, after missing the entirety of the 2024-25 season due to a blood clot in her leg, has been another key contributor for Ralph’s squad. She is the leading rebounder for the Commodores, averaging 7.7 boards per game, despite standing at just 6’2 and going up against much taller opposing centers. The craziest part about this number is that Washington grabs more rebounds off the offensive glass than defensively, showcasing that height isn’t all that matters. Her best game of the season came in the win over Missouri with 15 points and 16 rebounds, but her impact night in and night out is undeniable.
Other players like Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda, Jada Brown and Aiyana Mitchell have all been highly impactful for Vanderbilt in 2025-26. Much of the season has been chalked up as “The Blakes Show,” but every lead actress needs her supporting cast.
Analytics…don’t love the ‘Dores?
The Week 11 AP Poll had the Commodores ranked No. 5 in the country. ESPN’s women’s college basketball power rankings have the ‘Dores at No. 5, as well.
Shockingly, though, the analytics disagree. In comparison to where they’re ranked by the national media, the data seems to underrate this year’s Vanderbilt team. Bart Torvik, the leading website for women’s college basketball analytics, has the Black and Gold at No. 7, behind LSU and Michigan — both of which lost to Vanderbilt this season. HerHoopStats is also low on the Commodores, rating them as just the eighth-best team in the country. Even the NET, which analyzes record and efficiency on the basis of opponents that a team has faced, places Vanderbilt at No. 7. Where does the discrepancy lie?
Vanderbilt is fifth in Division I in terms of adjusted offensive efficiency, but when it comes to the defensive side of the ball, it falls to 34th nationally. Sure, these ‘Dores can score, but the best teams in the country — and the true national title contenders — are able to limit their opponents from scoring, as well.
Torvik has Ralph’s squad ranking just 240th in defensive rebound percentage, despite being top 10 in offensive rebound percentage. The team is 10th in effective field goal percentage (EFG%), but they come in at 90th in EFG% allowed. They shoot 54.9% from two-point range and 37.0% from beyond the arc, both of which are in the top 20. Defensively, though, they allow teams to shoot 43.2% from inside the 3-point line (87th of 363) and 30.1% from behind it (148th of 363).
If Vanderbilt wants to bolster its resume and start being taken seriously as a favorite to make it to this year’s NCAA Final Four in Phoenix, Arizona, it has some work to do on the defensive end.
Regardless of how the analytics see this team, the truth remains that they are undefeated and have racked up two AP-top-10 wins. Only one question remains: how long can they keep this up?
Vanderbilt will hope to build on its momentum as it prepares to face off against Auburn in Memorial Gymnasium on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 6:30 p.m. CST.
