Vanderbilt’s Sweet 16 return is powered by more than just Mikayla Blakes’ scoring show
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — AP All-American Mikayla Blakes gets a lot of the attention at Vanderbilt as the nation’s leading scorer.
But the Commodores are going to their first Sweet 16 since 2009 because they have so many others helping the Southeastern Conference’s player of the year.
There’s the freshman point guard who is a whirling dervish on the court and plays Robin to Blakes’ Batman. There’s the 6-foot-2 graduate forward who stuck around after missing last season with a blood clot issue. And then there’s the 3-point shooter in her third year at Vanderbilt after transferring in from in-state rival Tennessee.
It’s coach Shea Ralph’s best team yet in her fifth season at Vanderbilt (29-4).
“We are a team, a really, really good team with great pieces,” Ralph said. “Everybody has value. Everybody has a role that they play that’s really important for us to win big games.”
Blakes brings the scoring, averaging 27.1 points a game this season and an even better 30.5 clip in SEC play. She also just missed a triple-double in the second round with 25 points, nine assists, 10 rebounds and four steals.
“She is a facilitator,” said senior Justine Pissott, the 3-point shooter who started her college career at Tennessee. “She rebounds the ball. She’s just a great player all around. It’s really important when she finds everybody — there’s not one person she doesn’t miss on the court, and when she misses them, she’ll get them the next time.”
Vanderbilt earned a No. 2 seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament with four starters averaging double figures.
SEC freshman of the year Aubrey Galvan, generously listed at 5-foot-6, whips passes to teammates, spins in the lane for layups and knocks down big 3s. She’s second in scoring to Blakes with 13.2 points a game and has a season-high of 30 points.
Ralph said they work to put together a team that complements each other and ignored the idea that Galvan was too small to compete in the SEC.
“What we saw from her, along with the intangible qualities — chip on her shoulder, competitiveness, love for basketball she has — was that she was going to be just fine,” Ralph said.
Galvan also led all freshmen in assists and ranked fourth nationally with 81 steals. Blakes said it took all summer and lots of yelling for the Commodores to get on the same page with Galvan. Post players especially had to learn to always be ready for a pass.
“If you’re not looking at her, you’re going to get hit in the head with a ball, and it’s happened a lot of times,” Blakes said. “Every time she has the ball, she’s looking to pass.”
Sacha Washington is the graduate student who has been with Ralph every step of this journey, returning after a blood clot in her right calf cost her the 2024-25 season. Now she plays her first Sweet 16 on Friday against No. 6 seed Notre Dame (24-10).
The SEC’s active leader in career rebounds grabs 7.9 of them a game and tied the program mark in an NCAA Tournament game with 17 in the first round. Tears flowed Monday night when Washington checked out with a couple minutes left with hugs all around.
“Really you never know when you’re going to be done playing,” Washington said. “I’ve been healthy this whole season. So words can’t even explain, but I’m very grateful to be here and I’m very happy.”
Ralph appreciates Washington sticking with her in this transfer portal and NIL era.
“That kid has really, really, really poured her heart and soul into this program, and we would not be where we are without her,” Ralph said.
A McDonald’s All-American who played her first season at Tennessee, Pissott was struggling after the loss of a grandfather. She credited Ralph and Vanderbilt with picking her up when she didn’t know how. The senior who shoots 40% beyond the arc scored a career-best 11.2 points a game this season.
“I may not have scored a lot, I may not have done a lot,” an emotional Pissott said. “But I tried to be a leader for everybody around me, and I hope that they have noticed that.”
Ralph had to replace four starters, so she brought in a pair of transfers in graduate Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda from Texas and junior Aalyah Del Rosario from LSU. Ralph noted Mwenentanda bet on Vanderbilt after going to a Final Four last year, believing the Commodores would do something special.
Now they’re off to Fort Worth and the 1 Region with No. 1 seed UConn looming on the other side of the bracket. Ralph just wants her Commodores playing their roles as designed as they chase a championship.
“Nothing has to change,” Ralph said. “It doesn’t matter who we play.”
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