Why Vanderbilt's March Madness disappointment is reminder of program's progress and needs
DURHAM, N.C. — Shea Ralph wants to think that her team underachieved in its overtime loss to Oregon in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Vanderbilt coach wants to think it was a shock that it played so poorly in the first half, eventually falling behind by 19 points.
But this was the team the Commodores (22-11) were all season: wildly inconsistent, as prone to long droughts as big runs.
Vanderbilt fought back from that deficit to force overtime, but Mikayla Blakes, Khamil Pierre and Leilani Kapinus all fouled out late in the game. Without those three, the Commodores couldn't make enough shots and lost to Oregon 77-73.
"Some of these kids have never been in the NCAA tournament, and hopefully will come to many more," Ralph said. "And some, it's their first and last . . . For whatever reason, this team likes to fight out of a hole, and we dug ourselves a pretty big one, and then we showed up like the team that I truly believe we are for most of the second half. And unfortunately, we ran out of time."
Ralph has revitalized the Commodores' program, taking it to back-to-back NCAA tournaments for the first time since 2013-14. Last season, when they were unsure if they would even qualify for the tournament and had to play in the First Four, they were just happy to be there. This season, earning a No. 7 seed with Blakes, the SEC Freshman of the Year, their early exit is a disappointment.
Blakes had 26 points and five rebounds, but she fouled out of the game on a charge partway through overtime. Pierre, the team's other sparkplug this season, had 17 points and six rebounds but fouled out during the fourth quarter.
Jordyn Oliver, the sixth-year senior who has been known for her ability to do the "little things" during her Vanderbilt career, put up 10 points and six rebounds. Kapinus, the defensive ace, had eight points and eight rebounds and hit the game-tying shot with four seconds remaining before she, too, fouled out in overtime.
Oliver, who hopes to remain with the program in some capacity after graduating, exemplifies this era of Commodores basketball. A former McDonald's All-American, she started her career at Baylor, transferred to Duke, then landed at Vanderbilt.
"When people look at the additions that we're making to our roster . . . they're like, Oh, I wonder why she chose there,' " Ralph said. "So she helped lay the foundation in that way where now, because she chose to come to Vanderbilt, when she could have gone anywhere, people are starting to turn their heads . . .
"She's just a really great human being. So that helps us now recruit other really great human beings and other players, whether they're in high school or they go into the transfer portal that maybe just didn't find the right fit the first or second time, and then she can talk to them about what we've been able to do here."
Most of the Commodores' key pieces have eligibility remaining. Sacha Washington, the post player who missed the entire season with a blood clot, has already stated her intention to return to Vanderbilt for a fifth year. Blakes is a freshman and Pierre is a sophomore. Senior Iyana Moore, who missed the 2022-23 season with a torn ACL, also has a year remaining, should she choose to use it.
Perhaps the Commodores can use their increased recent success to try to lure top players in the portal, which opens Monday. All season, Vanderbilt struggled to defend on the interior. Opposing post players often had their way. And though the Commodores mostly contained 6-foot-8 Ducks center Phillipina Kyei, who had seven points and nine rebounds, Oregon outscored Vanderbilt by six with her on the floor.
"When I left (Duke), I didn't know if I wanted to play basketball anymore," Oliver said. "I remember the day Coach Ralph called me . . . I sat on the phone with her for an hour and a half, and I said, that woman's going to be my coach. . . . I'm forever in debt to Coach Ralph because she believed in me when I didn't believe in myself."
That care and vision for the program likely will take Ralph and Commodores far. But now begins a long offseason where they have to retain stars like Blakes and Pierre and get the right pieces around them that Vanderbilt simply didn't have to get to the finish line.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt women's basketball, transfer portal needs after March Madness
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