Vanderbilt

[YoDore]

SEC media day for women's basketball will be next Wednesday in Birmingham. Coach Ralph will be taking grad student Jordyn Oliver, who has been a blessing to the program since transferring in from Duke last year, and junior Iyana Moore, who is a senior academically but has two years of basketball remaining due to an injury redshirt year.

 

[YoDore]

Vandy gets an official visit from '25 prospect Ciara Byars. At one time she was the #34 Hoopgurlz recruit, but she missed this summer after knee surgery. While out of sight out of mind, she dropped to #63. She's 6'2 and versatile, equally effective inside and out. Her finalist list is Vanderbilt, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Cal, Mississippi State, Maryland and Michigan. She has visited most of them and will apparently visit all seven before announcing a decision. She visited Vandy unofficially last year.

 

[maple]

^ Seems like she would be a good get for Coach Ralph. How is the squad looking for this season?

 

[YoDore]

^ Seems like she would be a good get for Coach Ralph. How is the squad looking for this season?

It's radio silence over there. No injury news, which is a great positive. All I can tell you is, if they stay healthy, this should be Shea's best and deepest team. It will be extremely hard to match last season's 23 wins given the schedule, particularly a brutal SEC road schedule. Still, I no longer have that "hang on for dear life" feeling. I think they'll be good. Can they be very good? They have to shoot the ball better.

 

[maple]

It's radio silence over there. No injury news, which is a great positive. All I can tell you is, if they stay healthy, this should be Shea's best and deepest team. It will be extremely hard to match last season's 23 wins given the schedule, particularly a brutal SEC road schedule. Still, I no longer have that "hang on for dear life" feeling. I think they'll be good. Can they be very good? They have to shoot the ball better.

That's great to hear. I'm going to try and watch/listen to all their games this year.

 

[YoDore]

Coach Ralph Gets Contract Extension

Ralph Extended

Women’s basketball head coach enters her fourth season at the helm of Vanderbilt program

vucommodores.com

 

[YoDore]

Media picks Vandy to finish 10th in 16-team SEC. Last season, they picked the Commodores to finish last in the league. They wound up 6th.

 

[YoDore]

 

[YoDore]

Here is a link to Shea Ralph’s press conference with SEC media Wednesday at the tipoff event in Birmingham.

Coach Shea Ralph Press Conference (10/16/24) - Live Stream - Watch ESPN

For those who can’t access the SEC+ link to the press conference, here is a shorter interview with a young reporter from vandysports.com.

 

[YoDore]

 

[YoDore]

Coach Ralph revealed today that senior post player Sacha Washington is currently out with a non-basketball related medical issue and will not play in the season opener Monday against Lipscomb. She has had limited activity for the last month. The following is from a story in The Tennessean following coach Ralph's meeting with the media:

"Washington has been out for about a month. She has been able to participate in practice in a limited form, but she has not been cleared for contact. In the next few weeks, the team will get more clarity on her situation."

This truly sucks. On the bright side, it does not appear to be anything debilitating. She's still working on conditioning and appears to be her happy-go-lucky self. Just not a great way to start a season, but we all know worse has happened to a lot of other teams and players leading up to the season. Guess we should count our blessings. Sacha was named to the Cheryl Miller Award pre-season watchlist earlier in the week:

 

[YoDore]

Coach Ralph met with the local media Thursday afternoon. As always, I enjoy listening to her. My favorite quote came at the very end when she was asked what one word best describes her team. Her response:

"Hungry. Hungry. They understand what's out there to be taken, and they want it. It's a joy to coach them, and I'm excited."

 

[Gus Mahler]

Coach Ralph revealed today that senior post player Sacha Washington is currently out with a non-basketball related medical issue and will not play in the season opener Monday against Lipscomb. She has had limited activity for the last month. The following is from a story in The Tennessean following coach Ralph's meeting with the media:

"Washington has been out for about a month. She has been able to participate in practice in a limited form, but she has not been cleared for contact. In the next few weeks, the team will get more clarity on her situation."

This truly sucks. On the bright side, it does not appear to be anything debilitating. She's still working on conditioning and appears to be her happy-go-lucky self. Just not a great way to start a season, but we all know worse has happened to a lot of other teams and players leading up to the season. Guess we should count our blessings. Sacha was named to the Cheryl Miller Award pre-season watchlist earlier in the week:

Bummer for Sacha. I'm rooting for her to have a big year. She deserves it.

 

[YoDore]

Excited to see coach Ralph's fourth edition of the Commodores get the season started. In some ways, it's hard to believe she has been in Nashville that long. Today marks the debut of freshman Mikayla Blakes, who I think has a chance to be something special before she's done.

Sports writers predict Vandy will finish 10th in the 16-team SEC. The coaches have even less respect for the Dores, predicting they will finish 12th. I got us 7th behind South Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss. With a couple good bounces, Vandy might slip ahead of Bama and Ole Miss for 5th.

Today's game will be on SEC+ at 11 a.m. CT.

 

[visitingcock]

Good luck today.

Bad luck Saturday.

 

[YoDore]

Sacha Washington, Justine Pissott and Leilani Kapinus all out of the lineup today. That's either three starters or two starters and the top reserve. Gonna get a look at the depth coach Ralph has been talking about.

 

[YoDore]

Coach Ralph's postgame press conference after 102-50 season-opening win over in-town opponent Lipscomb. A mismatch, to be certain, but two years ago Vandy won this game in overtime, and last year it was 72-50.

 

[Magy Cannon]

Coach Ralph is turning things around at Vanderbilt.

 

[YoDore]

Coach Ralph's postgame press conference after Vandy's 93-37 win over Austin Peay Friday night. Leilani Kapinus made her debut for the team, but potential starters Sacha Washington and Justine Pissott were still not dressed for action. Washington is still out with a non-basketball-related health issue, and her return does not appear to be imminent. I would not be surprised to see Pissott return for Thursday's first road test at USF, though that has not been announced officially.

StatBroadcast Mobile Stats

stats.statbroadcast.com

 

[YoDore]

Women’s Basketball Signs Three

Vanderbilt welcomes Ava Black, Aubrey Galvan, and Monique Williams as the first three members of its 2025 signing class

vucommodores.com

 

[YoDore]

Vandy travels to USF tonight for its first road contest of the season after a pair of blowout wins at home against in-state mid-major teams. My biggest worry is that the Dores will still be without starters Sacha Washington and Justine Pissott, who haven’t played so far this season. Washington has a non-basketball related health issue, and Pissott appears to have a lower-leg injury. Coach Ralph said Pissott should be back after tonight’s game, and they’ll know more about Washington this weekend.

The game will be on ESPN+ at 6 CT.

 

[YoDore]

Vandy wins 62-49 at USF, but it was a game where you can honestly say the score makes it look closer than it actually was. The Dores (3-0) were up by 23 with three minutes left, then USF closed on a 10-0 run.

In addition to the absence of Sacha Washington and Justine Pissott, the Dores have some injury problems going through the team. Iyana Moore only played 12 minutes and none in the second half. Coaches said Khamil Pierre was also feeling bad and that Jordyn Oliver has been sick for a week. They both played substantial minutes and played well, though.

ETA: It turns out Moore was having back spasms, which flared up a couple days ago then again during warmups tonight. Pierre tweaked a hamstring slightly during warmups.

 

[BRS24]

Ccngrats @YoDore ! We are only 30-ish mins away from USF, and I hadn't marked the Vandy game in my top 25+ list, so didn't realize the game was on until, well, the game was on. Would have loved to see Coach in person.

 

[YoDore]

Ccngrats @YoDore ! We are only 30-ish mins away from USF, and I hadn't marked the Vandy game in my top 25+ list, so didn't realize the game was on until, well, the game was on. Would have loved to see Coach in person.

She's gonna be mad. I'll try to smooth it over for you.

I'll add this here. Shea is a big Jose fan. In addition to his coaching ability, she says he is just a great human being:

 

[YoDore]

Vandy moves to 4-0 with an 81-52 win over Butler. The Dores scored 41 points off of 30 Butler turnovers. Freshman Mikayla Blakes had a career high 29 points, and sophomore Khamil Pierre had 24. It was Pierre's first game this season without a double-double as she finished with eight rebounds. Starting post Sacha Washington is still out due to medical issues, and shooting guard Iyana Moore missed the game because of back spasms earlier in the week. Justine Pissott made her first appearance of the season and played 14 minutes.