Vanderbilt WBB Loses in SEC Quarterfinals: The Anchor – Sports Illustrated

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Vanderbilt women’s basketball’s trip to Greenville for the SEC Tournament did not go as planned. The Commodores lost to No. 24 Ole Miss in the quarterfinal round of the tournament 89-78.
It was the second time that Vanderbilt lost to the Rebels this season. Ole Miss jumped on Vanderbilt early and never looked back. Vanderbilt fell behind 25-6 in the first quarter. The Commodores struggled to hit from the field for the entire first half as Vanderbilt trailed 49-17 going into the locker rooms.
It was the perfect storm for Ole Miss and a storm of disaster for Vanderbilt. What could go wrong did go wrong for the Commodores on both sides of the floor. Star guard and potential National Player of the Year Mikayla Blakes went 0-for-10 from the floor in the first half and was 0-for-11 early in the third quarter as well.
Vanderbilt’s offense did wake up eventually, but it was too late. The Commodores had a furious run to start the second half before going on a 17-0 run in the fourth quarter to cut Ole Miss’ lead down to 11 points.
One thing that got people talking was the ejection of Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph. The ejection occurred early in the fourth quarter after what Ralph felt was a blatant missed call that would have gone Vanderbilt’s way. What led to the ejection was Blakes stealing the ball off an inbound, but the officials missed a personal foul on Ole Miss that tripped Blakes up in an attempt to take the ball back.
After an argument with the referees, Ralph was ejected.
With Vanderbilt’s SEC Tournament trip ending shorter than it intended, the Commodores will look toward Selection Sunday to see where it is seeded in the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt entered this week as a projected No. 2 seed and as a host site for the first two rounds.
“First of all, congratulations to Ole Miss, and we’re continuing their journey for a championship. Secondly, I’m really proud of the fight that my team showed today. My team and my staff were amazing. I just told Sasha on the way over (to the press conference) that maybe I should have gotten kicked out sooner,” Ralph said. “In terms of the way that we played, the fight that we showed, that’s the team that I know. This changes nothing about our season. Changes nothing about what we’ve done. I think it only adds fuel to the fire for what’s ahead. I cannot wait to get back home to Vanderbilt, to Nashville, to regroup and compete for a championship in the NCAA tournament.” 
182 days
No. 2 Vanderbilt women’s basketball lost to No. 7 Ole Miss at the SEC Tournament 89-78.
Vanderbilt baseball beat North Dakota State 14-2.
Vanderbilt women’s tennis beat No. 1 Georgia 4-2.
Vanderbilt men’s tennis beat Arkansas 4-3.
Vanderbilt bowling at the Music City Classic, Day 2 at 9:40 a.m. CT.
Vanderbilt lacrosse at Ohio State, 10 a.m. CT on Big Ten+.
No. 24 Vanderbilt men’s basketball at No. 23 Tennessee, 1 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Vanderbilt baseball vs. North Dakota State, Game 2, 2 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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