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Vanderbilt women’s basketball’s excellent regular season was fully justified Tuesday afternoon when the post regular season conference awards were announced.
Vanderbilt swept the three biggest awards the conference has to offer: SEC Coach of the Year, SEC Player of the Year and SEC Freshman of the year. Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph won the SEC Coach of the Year, Mikayla Blakes was named the SEC Player of the Year and Aubrey Galvan was awarded the SEC Freshman of the Year.
The awards are a true testament to what Ralph and her players have done this season. Vanderbilt was ranked No. 24 in the preseason AP Top 25. In the preseason poll, the Commodores were behind six other SEC teams. While there was an expectation this season for Vanderbilt to have a good season and make the NCAA Tournament, nobody except the Commodores thought that the regular season Vanderbilt had would become reality.
Ralph, Blakes and Galvan have all contributed to a season that will be remembered by fans and the program forever. The three award winners helped lead Vanderbilt to a 27-3 record ahead of the SEC Tournament. The 27 wins set a program record for the most wins in a season.
Blakes has been perhaps the best player in the country, averaging over 30 points per game in a rugged SEC conference slate. Blakes is the second player in Vanderbilt history to win SEC Player of the Year. Chantelle Anderson is the only other Commodore to win this award.
Galvan is the fourth Vanderbilt player to be named SEC Freshman of the Year. The freshman floor general has helped Vanderbilt excel this season and has put her team in position to potentially get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Vanderbilt is just the sixth school in SEC history to sweep the three biggest conference awards. It is the first time it has happened since the 2013-2014 season.
Vanderbilt now goes into the SEC Tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Commodores will play their first game in the tournament Friday at 6 p.m. ET.
185 days
Vanderbilt baseball (beat/lost to) Central Arkansas (score).
No. 24 Vanderbilt men’s basketball (beat/lost to) Ole Miss (score).
Vanderbilt men’s golf finished (x) place at the Cabo Collegiate.
Vanderbilt lacrosse vs. Eastern Michigan, 12 p.m. CT
Vanderbilt baseball vs. Troy, 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
Vanderbilt soccer vs. Lipscomb (exhibition game), 7 p.m. CT.
Vanderbilt women’s golf at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, Day 3.
.@mikaylablakes is the 2025-26 SEC Player of the Year
2️⃣7️⃣.1️⃣ ppg
3️⃣0️⃣.5️⃣ ppg in SEC
4️⃣.6️⃣ ast per game
2️⃣.9️⃣ stl per game
1️⃣2️⃣ 30-pt games
1️⃣3️⃣th Player to win both SEC POY & SEC FOY in their career
⚓️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/wLD9p2V8mr
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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