Ready to Tip Off – Vanderbilt Commodores

Women's basketball opens the 2026-27 season vs. Lipscomb with a special 11 a.m. tip time for Education Day
Vanderbilt (0-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. Lipscomb (0-0, 0-0 ASUN)
Monday, Nov. 2, 2026 • 11 a.m. CT
Education Day
Memorial Gymnasium • Nashville, Tenn. • Tickets
SEC Network+ • 94.9 The Fan • Vanderbilt Athletics App • Live Stats • Season Prospectus
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The 2026-27 season tips off for the No. 8/9-ranked Vanderbilt women’s basketball team Monday morning, as the Commodores open Season 6 of the Shea Ralph era with a home contest against Lipscomb. Tipoff against the Bisons is set for 11 a.m. CT and streams live from Memorial Gymnasium on SEC Network+.
Starting Five
>> Vandy enters its sixth season under Ralph’s direction with high expectations after reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time in 17 seasons. The Dores return eight players from last season’s 29-5 squad, including starters Mikayla Blakes and Aubrey Galvan, who each were selected to the Naismith Player of the Year preseason watch list and named preseason All-SEC first team by the league’s coaches.
>> Vanderbilt brought in six new players to its roster this season. The Dores brought in a trio of high-level NCAA Division I transfers and inked the highest-rated freshman class during her time at Vanderbilt. The Dores are 102-59 in the Ralph era, as Vandy has posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns over the last two seasons. It is the first time Vanderbilt has had consecutive 20-win campaigns since a streak of 14-straight seasons from 1999-00 to 2012-13.
>> Coach Ralph heads into Monday’s season opener looking to remain undefeated in the first game of a campaign. The Commodores are 5-0 in the season-opening contest under Ralph, three of which have taken place at Memorial Gym. Ralph is the lone Vanderbilt head coach to begin their career by winning five straight season openers. Last season, Vandy traveled all the way to Paris, France, to tip off the 2025-26 campaign and picked up a 74-65 victory over California in the Oui-Play Paris event.
>> Vanderbilt and Lipscomb will face off for the 20th time in a series that dates back to the 1977-78 season. The Commodores are a perfect 19-0 against the Bisons, and 9-0 in games with both teams playing in NCAA Division I. Vandy is 3-0 against Lipscomb under Ralph. The last game between the two Nashville area schools came on Nov. 4, 2024, when the Dores picked up a 102-50 win at Memorial Gym in the 2024-25 campaign.
>> Vanderbilt is 40-9 all-time in season-opening contests. The Commodores are 29-3 at Memorial Gym in the first game of a new campaign. Vandy is 5-0 in season openers under head coach Shea Ralph, as she is the first Commodore coach to begin her career with five straight season-opening victories.
Game Coverage
Monday’s contest against Lipscomb will stream live on SEC Network+ via the Watch ESPN app, and Alex Gould and Richard Hendrix will be on the call. Fans can also listen to Andrew Selover call all the action locally on 94.9 The Fan and on the Vanderbilt Commodores app outside of Nashville.
Gameday Information
Click the link here for the latest gameday information on entrance, parking, and ticketing information at Memorial Gymnasium.
Education Day
Monday will be Education Day at Memorial Gymnasium. Vanderbilt will host several local area school students to help ring in the new basketball season. Fans can purchase tickets to Monday’s season opener by clicking the link here.
50th Season of Commodores Women’s Basketball
The 2026-27 campaign makes the 50th season that Vanderbilt has sponsored varsity-level women’s basketball. The Commodores’ first varsity season came in 1977-78 and competed in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), the precursor to NCAA women’s basketball.
Vanderbilt is 959-560 (.631) coming into Season 50. The Dores are 909-505 (.643) at the NCAA Division I level, which began in the 1981-82 season.
Preseason Honors
Mikayla Blakes, Aubrey Galvan, Mia Woolfolk and Aalyah Del Rosario have each earned preseason accolades heading into the 2026-27 campaign.
Blakes was named a preseason All-American by the Associated Press, while she was selected as the preseason SEC Player of the Year by the SEC coaches and media, as well as USA Today. The reigning Anne Meyers Drysdale Award winner was named to the preseason Shooting Guard of the Year watch list once again. The junior was also selected to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year preseason watch list.
Galvan joined Blakes on the Naismith Trophy preseason watch list. The sophomore point guard was also selected to the preseason All-SEC first team by the league’s coaches.
Woolfolk, who is in her first season with the Dores after a two-year stint at Georgia, was voted onto the preseason All-SEC second team by the coaches.
For Del Rosario, she made her second appearance on the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Award preseason watch list.
Nation’s Best Backcourt Returns for Act 2
Last season, Vanderbilt’s guard combo of Mikayla Blakes and Aubrey Galvan took the nation by storm to help the Commodores reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in 17 years.
Blakes went on to be a unanimous first-team All-American and was a finalist for every major national player of the year award. The guard led the nation in scoring at 27.0 points per game and set a modern SEC record for the highest scoring average in league games at 30.5 points per contest. Blakes became the second Commodore to earn SEC Player of the Year honors.
Galvan burst onto the scene in 2025-26 and led an offense that set the school record for the highest single-season scoring average at 84.3 points per game. The point guard was named SEC Freshman of the Year, giving the Dores their second-straight receipt for the league’s top rookie award.
Welcome Newcomers
Vandy went out and landed six impact newcomers during the offseason.
Ralph has brought in the highest-rated freshman class of her tenure at Vanderbilt. The incoming freshmen Jhai Johnson, Olivia Jones and Sther Ubaka were ranked No. 11 by ESPN and No. 16 by 247 Sports.
The reigning consensus National Coach of the Year also brought in three impact NCAA Division I transfers, Vernell Atamah from Northwestern State, Mia Woolfolk from Georgia and Saniyah Glenn-Bello from Harvard.
Scouting the Bisons
Lipscomb enters Year 8 under head coach Lauren Sumski, who is 96-110 in her time with the Bisons. Lipscomb went 10-20 last season and 7-11 in the Atlantic Sun. The Bisons were selected No. 3 in the preseason ASUN Coaches Poll.
Senior McKayla Miller and sophomore Hope Counts were each selected to the Preseason All-ASUN team. Miller is the team’s top returning scorer at 12.3 points per game, while Counts returns after setting the Lipscomb freshman blocks record with 77 swats. The 6-2 guard’s 2.57 blocks per game ranked fifth in all of NCAA Division I, while her 77 total blocks were the 10th-most in the nation last season.
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