Mikayla Blakes of Vanderbilt women’s basketball was named SEC Player of the Year, the conference announced March 3. Aubrey Galvan was named SEC Freshman of the Year and Shea Ralph named SEC Coach of the Year.
It was only the sixth time that an SEC school has won Coach, Player and Freshman of the Year awards in the same season and the first time in Commodores history.
Blakes is averaging 27.1 points per game this season, leading the nation, and averaged 30.5 points per game during SEC play. In conference games, she scored 30 points 10 times, including in eight of her final nine games. Her 30-point performances included wins over LSU, Kentucky (twice), Oklahoma, Texas and Tennessee.
She also averaged 5.4 assists per game in SEC play.
Blakes helped lead the Commodores (27-3) to one of their best regular seasons ever. Vanderbilt’s 27 regular-season wins are a program record, as are their 13 SEC wins. The Commodores are projected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Vanderbilt finished tied for second in the SEC and will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SEC tournament. The Commodores will begin play in the quarterfinals March 6 (6 p.m. CT, SEC Network) in Greenville, South Carolina.
The only time a Vanderbilt player has previously won SEC Player of the Year was Chantelle Anderson in 2002.
Galvan, Vanderbilt’s freshman point guard, was named SEC Freshman of the Year. Blakes earned the award in 2025.
Galvan averaged 12.9 points, 5.9 assists and 2.7 steals per game. She played her best basketball at the end of the season as she scored 30 points in a win over Oklahoma and had at least 15 points in five of Vanderbilt’s last seven games, including wins over Texas, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X @aria_gerson.
