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The Vanderbilt Commodores may have ended their March Madness run too early for their liking this year, but that didn’t stop the team from walking out of the Dickies Arena with their heads held high. The Commodores, who fell 67-64 to Notre Dame, can look back on the 2025-26 season for what it was: historic.
Head coach Shea Ralph assured everyone after the game that the team would be back. “Obviously, this isn’t the way we wanted our season to end,” Ralph said, “but most of the people that I know that aren’t inside our circle didn’t think that we would be here, didn’t think we would accomplish the things that we did this year.
“I know that there was a lot of questions around the squad that we had going into the season, and I think that you’re seeing what’s possible when you commit to believing in each other, when you work really hard, when you lay the foundation of an incredible culture, and when you invest in women, as our leadership has done in us.”
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That’s been the story of Vanderbilt all season: Ralph, who just finished her fifth season as head coach of the program, thoughtfully put together a roster that could compete, whether other people realized it or not. She had early buy-ins from outgoing graduates Sacha Washington and Jada Brown. Justine Pissott and Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda transferred in from Tennessee and Texas, Mikayla Blakes stayed true following a successful first season, and freshman Aubrey Galvan has electrified fans all season.
In addition to Blakes and Galvan, Ralph is likely to see the return of seven players next season: Madison Greene, Ava Black, Monique Williams, Aiyanna Mitchell, Aga Makurat, Trinity Wilson, and Aalyah Del Rosario. Bringing back a roster of nine returners isn’t always a guarantee when NIL deals are flying. That it’s a likelihood for Ralph speaks to her character on and off the court.
But that doesn’t do much to make the team’s loss to Notre Dame feel any better. Though Blakes had a misstep toward the end of the game, Ralph was quick to insist that’s not what cost the Commodores the result they wanted.
“We wouldn’t be here without her,” Ralph said. “So there are lots of things that we could have done a lot better throughout the course of that game in particular, but those two plays at the end, we got two great shots. … I’m putting the ball in her hands every single time, and that’s not why we lost the game.”
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Blakes also battled an intense Notre Dame defense that found a stop nearly every time they needed to, which slowed her shooting early in the game. She managed to come away with 26 points, a nod to how elite her shooting is when she finally starts clicking.
The team struggled as a whole to find a rhythm during the first half and turned the ball over 10 times in the first quarter. That was top of mind when the group hit the locker room at the half, Galvan told reporters.
“During the second half, we knew that our season was on the line,” Galvan said, “and we just had to dig into each other and stay together. We definitely emphasized that when we were going back out onto the court during the second half.”
Vanderbilt knew going into the game that Hannah Hidalgo was likely to bring her most elite game, but it might have been impossible to predict just how locked in Notre Dame’s star guard was going to be. Ralph put Brown on Hidalgo for most of the game, which allowed Brown to show off her defensive chops.
Of the decision, which surprised those who expected a close Hidalgo-Blakes matchup all 40 minutes, Ralph noted that Brown is one of her most aggressive players — she was just fighting fire with fire. “We knew that she was a good player, but we’ve played a lot of great players and great teams this year, so our team defense needed to be a little bit better so that we could get some stops, create some offense, kind of what we’ve been doing all year,” she explained.
Brown put on a show for everyone except her team, who already know this is who she is. “What we see from Jada every single day in practice and what you guys have seen from her in games lets you know and let me know that she was the right woman for the job and she did a great job,” Ralph added. “Really happy for her, especially this being her senior year, that she played so well today.”
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Despite the tough loss, Ralph made it clear that this wasn’t a setback and that the team’s culture would endure. “We hired people that we have worked with or coached or known or built relationships over the course of the time here, and they’ve stayed with me the entire time through some really tough times, right?” she said of her coaching staff.
“For better or worse. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, but look across the country, and you don’t see that a lot. You don’t see that, the consistency within our staff, the commitment they give every single day, the way they show up for me,” she added.
As much as Ralph is quick to point out that it’s her team who supports her, her team — coaches and players alike — are often just as fast to insist it’s the other way around. Both things are true, and are at the core of what makes Vanderbilt a vibrant and engaging place to play — and watch — basketball.
The Commodores will, undoubtedly, be back. And next time, they’ll have a few more lessons under their belts, a few more knots in their laces, and a thirst for going as far as the team can go.
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