Women’s Basketball: SEC Tournament recap – The Vanderbilt Hustler

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Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball traveled to Greenville, South Carolina, for the SEC Tournament as the No. 2 seed and holding strong at the No. 5 team in the nation. Headed east, the ‘Dores were in search of a conference championship — their first since 2009 — and a shot at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  
However, now it will watch Championship Sunday from the sidelines after falling to Ole Miss in the quarterfinal round.  
So, what went wrong for the ‘Dores on Friday? Let’s talk about it.  
Vanderbilt trailed by 32 points at the half to the Rebels. While games are certainly not decided by first-half play, it is hard to put together a comeback effort when a team trails by that much. Still, though, the Commodores did put together a comeback effort; they seemed like a whole other team in the second half, ultimately losing by only 11.  
Vanderbilt had no solution for a stifling Ole Miss defense in the first half. It coughed up the ball 11 times while its two most prolific scorers, Mikayla Blakes and Aubrey Galvan, were held to a combined two first-half points. In turn, the Rebels led by as much as 32 points with just seconds left to play in the half and gained 21 points off of turnovers as opposed to the ‘Dores two. They rarely allowed Vanderbilt to take an uncontested shot, and it showed; Vanderbilt shot an abysmal 17.2% from the field and 14.3% from beyond the arc. 
The Rebels had a plan coming into the game, and it was clear by how they executed it/, The ‘Dores were able to make adjustments in the second half, but  the hole they created was simply insurmountable to come out of in 20 minutes.   
Though it could not come back and win the game, the Commodores put together a commendable second half effort which, following the game, head coach Shea Ralph said she was very proud of. This performance especially came after the ejection of Ralph in the early seconds of the fourth quarter. Without their leader at the helm the ‘Dores started fighting back.  
“I’m really proud of the fight my team showed today,” Ralph said. “The way they played, the fight they showed, that’s the team I know. This changes nothing about our season [or] what we’ve done, and I think it only adds fuel to the fire for what’s ahead.” 
That first started with getting its three biggest scorers back into the mix: Galvan, Blakes and Sacha Washington. Despite the trio combining for six points in the first– –half, they ended with a combined 58. Blakes, in her first game since being named SEC Player of the Year, put together another 20+ point performance, ending her night with 24 points despite shooting just 29% from the field but shooting 35% from beyond the 3-point line.  
While, as Ralph said, this second-half performance was by no means a moral victory, it does show that Vanderbilt can put together a second-half performance and fight its way back into games. This grit is exactly what carries teams to wins in the NCAA Tournament. 
To put it simply, the Commodores stumbled and will leave South Carolina with a reality check: this is the post-season and there is no room for mistakes or a bad night if you want to play another game.  
With all that said, Vanderbilt will have another shot in a week. They are almost guaranteed to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament upon the bracket being announced March 15. And anything less than a Sweet 16 appearance would feel like a sour end to what has been a brilliant season so far for the Commodores. Perhaps it was also a reality check that Vanderbilt is a true contender; it is the team with the most to lose instead of the one with the most to gain. While this is a position that even the most senior players on the team have not previously been in, it is their reality now.  
The Commodores must be perfect from here on out if they want to complete the goal they set out for themselves at the start of this season: winning a national championship. Now it is time to embrace and rise to that expectation.  
Vanderbilt will now have a week of rest and preparation before finding out its seeding in the NCAA Tournament March 15 at 7 p.m. CDT. 
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