Hooping for a Cause – Vanderbilt Commodores

No. 19/21-ranked Vanderbilt takes on Memphis in an exhibition contest for the 2025 Hoops for St. Jude® Tip Off Classic, presented by Bad Boy Mowers
Vanderbilt (0-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. Memphis (0-0, 0-0 American)
Monday, Oct. 27, 2025 • 5:30 p.m. CT
FedExForum • Memphis, Tenn. • ESPNU
94.9 The Fan • Vanderbilt Athletics App • Live Stats •Game Notes
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The No. 19/21-ranked Vanderbilt women’s basketball season unofficially gets underway Monday, as the Commodores are set to take on Memphis at the FedExForum in an exhibition contest in the 2025 Hoops for St. Jude® Tip Off Classic, presented by Bad Boy Mowers. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. CT and airs live on ESPNU.
Starting Five
>> The 2025-26 season marks Year 5 under the direction of head coach Shea Ralph for the Commodores. Vanderbilt has earned a March Madness bid in each of the last two seasons, marking the first time since the program earned 15-straight bids from 1999-2014. The Dores are 73-59 in the Ralph era. Vandy has posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns over the last two seasons, marking the first time Vanderbilt has had consecutive 20-win campaigns since its streak of 14-straight seasons from 1999-00 to 2012-13.
>> All-American Mikayla Blakes is back in the Black and Gold after a record-setting rookie campaign with the Commodores in 2024-25. The Somerset, New Jersey, native was named the USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year last season and was selected as the SEC Freshman of the Year by the league’s coaches and the SEC Newcomer of the Year by USA Today. Blakes is the highest scoring player returning in the SEC this season, as she averaged 23.3 points per game a season ago. The guard was a preseason first-team All-SEC selection by both the coaches and media.
>> Monday’s game on ESPNU marks the first of 12 nationally-televised games for the Dores in 2025-26. Vanderbilt will play on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU a total of six times and will have five games on SEC Network. The Dores play once on FOX for the Coretta Scott King Classic on Jan. 19.
>> The 2025 Hoops for St. Jude® Tip Off Classic, presented by Bad Boy Mowers, is the first of four major women’s basketball events that Vanderbilt will partake in this season. Additionally, the Commodores open the 2025-26 season in Paris, France, to take on California in the 2025 Oui-Play Paris on Nov. 3. The Dores will spend the Thanksgiving week at the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and play in the Coretta Scott King Classic on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Newark, New Jersey.
>> Vanderbilt leads the all-time series against Memphis, 11-5. Monday’s exhibition marks the first time since the 2017-18 campaign that the two schools from the Volunteer State have faced off. The Tigers have won each of the last two games, though Vandy has won three of the last five meetings. Memphis forward Bailey Gilmore spent her first collegiate season of basketball at Vanderbilt, where she redshirted as a freshman.
Game Coverage
Monday’s exhibition contest in the 2025 Hoops for St. Jude® Tip Off Classic, presented by Bad Boy Mowers, airs live at 5:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU and the ESPN app. Mike Corey and Mark Wise will be on the call. Fans can listen to Jake Lyman locally on 94.9 The Fan and the Vanderbilt Commodores app outside of Nashville.
2025 St. Jude Tip Off Classic
The Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic is an annual exhibition basketball event where powerhouse college teams come together in support of the lifesaving mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. This year’s event takes place on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee.
National Rankings
Vanderbilt opens the 2025-26 season ranked inside both major women’s basketball polls. The Dores checked in at No. 19 in the preseason Associated Press top 25, while the USA Today coaches poll had Vandy at No. 21. It is the first time since 2012-13 that Vanderbilt will enter a new season nationally ranked.
SEC Projections
Expectations are high for the Commodores coming into the 2025-26 season, as the Commodores had their highest placement in the preseason SEC polls under Shea Ralph. Vanderbilt was selected to finish seventh in the preseason SEC media poll, while the league’s coaches projected an eighth-place finish for the Dores. Vanderbilt has posted back-to-back non-losing campaigns in SEC play, winning a total of 17 conference games over the last two seasons.
Sophomore Mikayla Blakes earned preseason first-team All-SEC honors from both the coaches and media. The guard is the top returning scorer in the SEC this season, as she averaged 23.3 points per game as a freshman a season ago.
One of the SEC’s Best Returns
Graduate Sacha Washington returns to action after missing the 2024-25 campaign with a medical issue. Now with a clean bill of health, the 6-2 forward looks to pick up where she left off in 2022-23. Washington is the only active SEC player to collect over 1,000 points, 700 rebounds, and 100 blocks in their career.
She became the 41st Commodore to score 1,000 career points during Vanderbilt’s 2024 NCAA Tournament run. She comes into the year having amassed 1,008 points, 720 rebounds, 108 blocks, and 105 assists in 99 career games with 72 starts.
Long Way to Go, Short Time to Get There
Vanderbilt is embarking on a long excursion to open the 2025-26 season. Monday’s exhibition contest opens a 10-day stretch where the Commodores will travel roughly 9,458 miles.
The Commodores open the season playing in a pair of premier women’s basketball events, as Vandy is slated to take on Memphis in an exhibition game at the FedExForum for the 2025 Hoops for St. Jude® Tip Off Classic. The Dores then head to Paris, France, to open the 2025-26 campaign officially against California on Nov. 3 for 2025 Oui-Play Paris. Both games will air on ESPNU.
After making the 424-mile round-trip to Memphis, the Dores will then travel roughly 4,400 miles to the City of Lights to kick off the 2025-26 season.
The 2025-26 Roster Breakdown
Vanderbilt returns seven players from last season’s squad and rounded out the roster with five newcomers. The Commodores also welcomed back the return of graduate Sacha Washington after she redshirted last season due to a medical condition.
Sophomore Mikayla Blakes is the lone returning starter from last year’s 22-win team, while Washington has started in 72 career games at Vanderbilt and has averaged double-digit points in each of her three seasons at Vandy. Along with Blakes, the Commodores bring back Jada Brown, Madison Greene, Justine Pissott, Aiyana Mitchell, Aga Makurat and Trinity Wilson.
The Dores brought in a pair of NCAA Division I transfers and three high schoolers. Graduate Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda and junior Aalyah Del Rosario bring ample March Madness experience, playing in a combined 16 NCAA Tournament games. Mwenentanda, a 6-2 guard, comes to the Music City after a three-year tenure at Texas, where she started for the Longhorns in the Sweet 16, Elite 8 and Final Four. Del Rosario, a 6-6 center, transferred in from LSU, where she was an All-SEC freshman team selection in 2023-24.
Freshmen Ava Black, Aubrey Galvan and Monique Williams round out the roster. Williams enrolled at Vanderbilt for the 2025 Spring semester and practiced with the team. Black and Galvan come to the program with high profiles, with Black being ranked as one of New England’s top prospects and Galvan being the MaxPreps Illinois Player of the Year.
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