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Vanderbilt 2025

My vote would be Fire Woman by The Cult :D
I could have that on repeat no problem. Just have to be careful with my speed as that song is best enjoyed at highway speeds.
 
Talent and depth advantage LSU.

Heart, togetherness and Blakey advantage Vandy.

In this game at least, heart beats talent.

Congrats.
 
Excellent win over LSU for Vandy. Blakes is a solid AA candidate. I love her aggression, including how she draws numerous FTAs and makes them at 80%.
 
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I feel like Shea Ralph is following a similar path to Dawn Staley when she came to South Carolina. It just seemed like there is noticeable progress each season and the record just gets better and better. They're recruiting better and better each year too. I can feel the momentum shifting to Vanderbilt becoming a SEC powerhouse. I don't think they're there quite yet but they are soooo close.
 
Coach Ralph’s postgame following the win over LSU. Includes Sacha Washington and Mikayla Blakes.

 
A few impressions from Vandy’s thrilling, 65-61 win over LSU Sunday:

First, a confession: Leading up to the game, I did not for one second think Vandy would win, especially after Kentucky’s win in Baton Rouge Thursday night. I figured the Tigers would come in breathing fire and would be too much for the Commodores. This winning thing is hard to get used to. I’m working on it.

A Key Coaching Move
LSU had a 24-12 rebounding edge in the first half, forcing coach Ralph to put an unusual lineup on the floor most of the second half. Posts Sacha Washington and Aiyana Mitchell, who normally alternate at the position, were on the floor together starting early in the third, mostly with three small guards who kept up defensive pressure while the two posts took part in what often resembled hand-to-hand combat inside. The Tigers still had a an eight-rebound advantage in the second half, but four of those came in the closing seconds when, trailing by four, they kept grabbing the ball and rushing it back up to the rim. The horn finally sounded, and the ball never went in the net.

Pressure
I never would have thought Vandy’s defensive pressure would bother the Tigers as much as it did. Vandy won the turnover battle 22-12. It was a different kind of pressure with very little trapping. It was just straight up, in your face, man-to-man with the normal switching on screens. Once in a while they doubled on the screens but mostly did not. LSU’s defense was also effective, especially in the first half when the Dores only had 22 points. Mulkey said after the game that first-half effort could have been the best defense one of her teams has played.

Mulkey’s Take
In her postgame remarks, Kim Mulkey gave Mikayla Blakes her due for her 32-point performance, but she said Aubrey Galvan, or as she called her, “the freshman,” was the key. Galvan had a shaky first half but settled down and made her mark in the second half, including an 11-point third quarter after being held scoreless in the first two quarters. She wound up with 14 points and six assists. Coach Ralph was laughing after the game, noting that after the horn, Galvan’s first words to her were “sorry about the first half.”

Visitors
Top ‘27 targets Haylen Ayers and Lauren Hassell were on hand for the game along with members of the 1993 final-four team, who were honored at half time along with their coach, Jim Foster. Some 50 alumni were also on hand and enjoyed a weekend of festivities, including celebrating with the team in the locker room after the game. Best I can tell, they avoided the water gun fight that broke out among the players. Good times.
 
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I am guessing Galvan never felt the pressure that Fulwiley applied in the first in her young career. Fulwiley would make almost all point guards struggle with the pressure she applied. I was happy to see her respond in the second half.
 
Speaking of Milaysia, I wonder how she feels about this game. She entered college as a top recruit but has never quite garnered the attention of other similarly talented recruits. I’m thinking of Latson Hidalgo… and now Blakes. I assume she left SC because she felt she wasn’t given enough freedom to show what she’s capable of. And then at LSU, where there’s a lot less structure, she still gets outshone by Blakes at their first meeting.
 
Speaking of Milaysia, I wonder how she feels about this game. She entered college as a top recruit but has never quite garnered the attention of other similarly talented recruits. I’m thinking of Latson Hidalgo… and now Blakes. I assume she left SC because she felt she wasn’t given enough freedom to show what she’s capable of. And then at LSU, where there’s a lot less structure, she still gets outshone by Blakes at their first meeting.
She left SCar right after Latson transferred
 
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She left SCar right after Latson transferred
Exactly. Though I also thought, after watching her post NC game locker room interview, that she was already wondering about her future at SC. She didn’t say anything directly about it, but something about her remarks didn’t sound like someone focused on making things work in Columbia.
 
Coach Ralph’s Tuesday press conference. Sound gets weak after first few seconds. Might need to turn it up.

 
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Looking forward to seeing this kid play at Vandy. Here she is scoring 23 points in 3:27 during a state sectional final.


Baller definitely describes Galvan! It seems Shae has her point guard for the future
 
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Shea’s Mississippi State postgame remarks.




Interview with SEC Network Hosts About Historical Start
 
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Temporary though it may be, I do appreciate the symmetry of this. I sense a theme.

 
The final 12 games on the Vanderbilt schedule include nine against Top-25 teams, and five of those nine are in the Top 10. The nastiness begins with a neutral site game against 8th ranked Michigan today in New Jersey. It’s a nationally televised (Fox) homecoming for Mikayla Blakes and Justine Pissott. Then, the SEC grind begins for real, including:

at #2 South Carolina
at #16 Ole Miss
at #7 Kentucky
home vs. #13 Oklahoma
home vs.. #4 Texas
home vs. #7 Kentucky
home vs. #21 Alabama
at #20 Tennessee

Mixed in with those games are three against non-ranked teams Auburn and Florida in Nashville and at Georgia.

There are toss-ups galore in that final 12-game stretch, and it’s hard to get a grip on what the likely record will be. I’m going to guess 7-5 with this caveat: A decent team could lose all nine of those Top-25 showdowns. I think we’re better than decent. A good team could go 4-5, and that’s where I have it, but with yet another caveat: We might be better than just good, and, if so, we could sneak out with another win or two.

For the record, I think our five most likely losses are at South Carolina, at Ole Miss, at Kentucky and at Tennessee. The only home loss I foresee is Texas. So, if we go 4-5 against the ranked teams and beat the three remaining unranked teams, that puts us at 7-5 over that last 12-game stretch and a 25-5 regular-season.

I have little faith in those guesses. For instance, I have us losing in Knoxville even though I truly feel we are the better team. I think we can beat Michigan, but it’s going to be a barn burner. Can we really beat Oklahoma and Regan Beers at home? I think so, but Beers can dominate games with her size.

I could go on and on. In fact, I already have. Let’s just say it’s going to be a wild ride.
 
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