Dores Set for Rebels – Vanderbilt Commodores

Women's basketball travels to Birmingham, Alabama, on Friday to face No. 17/17 Ole Miss in an SEC contest
No. 5/6 Vanderbilt (20-1, 6-1 SEC) vs. No. 17/17 Ole Miss (17-4, 4-2 SEC)
Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 • 2 p.m. CT
Legacy Arena • Birmingham, Ala. • SEC Network+
94.9 The Fan • Vanderbilt Athletics App • Live Stats • Game Notes
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The No. 5/6-ranked Vanderbilt women’s basketball team continues its elongated road trip on Friday, as the Commodores are set for a top-25 neutral-site contest against No. 17/17 Ole Miss at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Tipoff against the Rebels is set for 2 p.m. CT and streams live on SEC Network+.
Starting Five
>> Fans are invited to attend Friday’s game between Vanderbilt and Ole Miss. Admission is free with general seating throughout Legacy Arena. Doors open at 1 p.m. CT.
>> Friday’s game was originally scheduled for Thursday night at The Pavilion on the Ole Miss campus. Due to icy conditions in Oxford, Mississippi, the game was moved to Birmingham, Alabama. It will be the first time Vanderbilt has played a neutral-site contest against an SEC team in the regular season since Jan. 4, 1979, when the Commodores defeated Florida, 76-66, in Starkville, Mississippi, at the Lady Bulldog Classic. The last time Vandy faced an SEC team on a neutral court outside of the SEC Tournament came on March 25, 2002, when the Commodores fell to Tennessee, 68-63, in the Elite Eight at the 2002 NCAA Tournament in Ames, Iowa.
>> Vanderbilt is off to a 20-1 start to the season, which is tied with the 1992-93 Final Four team for the best start in school history through 21 games. The Commodores also stand at 6-1 in the SEC for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
>> The Commodores are 9-1 in road and neutral site games this season. Vanderbilt is 13-7 in SEC road games since the start of the 2023-24 season. Vandy won a program record six road games in 2023-24. Overall, Vanderbilt is 20-8 in true road games since the 2023-24 campaign.
>> The Dores and Rebels meet for the 58th time in a series dating back to the 1977-78 season. Vanderbilt leads the series 35-22, though Ole Miss has won the last five games against the Commodores. Vandy is 0-5 vs. Mississippi under head coach Shea Ralph, while the Commodores are 6-0 all-time against the Rebels in neutral-site games. The last neutral site game between the two was played on March 2, 2016, in Jacksonville, Florida, where the Dores posted a 74-59 win at the 2016 SEC Tournament.
Game Coverage
Friday’s contest streams on SEC Network+ in the ESPN app at 2 p.m. CT with Curt Bloom and Mo Finley on the call and Emily-Grace McWhorter doing sideline reporting. Fans can listen to Jake Lyman locally on 94.9 The Fan and the Vanderbilt Commodores app outside of Nashville.
National Rankings
The Commodores came in at No. 5 in the Associated Press top 25 and No. 6 in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches poll this week. This season marks the first time since the 2001-02 season that the Dores have been ranked in the top 10 in both major college women’s basketball polls.
NET Ranking
Vanderbilt holds a NET ranking of seven heading into the weekend. Vandy has collected three Quad 1 wins, three Quad 2 victories and five Quad 3 wins through the first 19 games this season.
The Dores opened the season at No. 12 in the first NET rankings of the 2025-26 season. The NET is an evaluation tool used by the NCAA Selection Committee to determine seeding and bids.
Tough Stretch
Friday’s contest marks the second-straight game that Vanderbilt will face a top-25 team. The Commodores are set to face a team placed inside the top 25 currently in eight of its nine final games to close out the 2025-26 season. Vandy is 2-1 in top-25 games this season, with wins over No. 5/5 LSU (65-61) and No. 7/7 Michigan (72-69).
Jada Brown From Downtown
Senior Jada Brown has been a spark plug in a reserve role for Vandy this season, as she has hit a team-best 20 3-point field goals off the bench. Brown had made at least one 3-pointer in each of her last eight games coming off the bench. The Bentonville, Arkansas, native is averaging a career-best 4.4 points per game this season and has scored in 10-straight games.
Blakes’ Scoring Streak
Sophomore Mikayla Blakes heads into Sunday riding a 40-game double-digit scoring streak. It is the second-longest streak by a Commodore since 1999-00. Only Vanderbilt’s all-time leading scorer, Chantelle Anderson, has had a longer streak, as she registered 52-straight games with 10-plus points during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.
Blakes currently holds the third-longest active double-digit scoring streak in NCAA Division I, while it is the longest active streak in the SEC.
Ndjakalenga Lights Up From Deep
Graduate Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda has found her stroke from behind the arc to begin her lone season as a Commodore, as the Texas transfer is shooting a career-best 39.0 percent (16-of-41) on 3-point field goals. The 6-2 guard has made 16 3-pointers in nine games this season after only making seven during her entire 103-game career at Texas. Recently, Mwenentanda hit a career-high three 3-point field goals at No. 2/2 South Carolina.
Scouting the Rebels
Ole Miss holds a 17-4 overall record and a 4-2 mark in the SEC play. The Rebels are ranked No. 18 in the NET ranking coming into the weekend, while they are No. 17 in both the AP top 25 and the USA Today/WBCA coaches poll. Ole Miss is coming off an 82-61 victory at Missouri on Jan. 22. The Rebels are in Year 8 under head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, who is 142-99 at Ole Miss.
Senior Cotie McMahon (19.4 ppg) leads a trio of seniors who average double-digit points for the Rebels this season. Christeen Iwuala is putting up 13.8 points per outing, while Latasha Lattimore chips in 10.2 points per game.
The Rebels average 78.3 points per game. Defensively, they allow 56.6 points to the opposition. Ole Miss is shooting 44.7 percent from the floor and 38.7 percent from behind the arc. Defensively, Ole Miss allows opponents to shoot 38.7 percent from the field and 29.3 percent beyond the 3-point line.
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