Rival Coach Gives Strong Praise to Vanderbilt Commodores Basketball Team

A rival SEC coach had high words of praise for the Vanderbilt Commodores basketball program.

Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph celebrates a play during the first quarter against Tennessee at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. | Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With a strong 16-4 overall record, fourth-year head coach Shea Ralph has helmed another strong campaign for the Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball program.

They had a first-round exit in the 2023-24 NCAA Tournament at the hands of the Baylor Bears, but look well poised to make another appearance in The Dance this year.

It has been a season that has seen the program take down their rival Tennessee Volunteers, who were ranked 17th in the nation at the time, and most recently handing the Arkansas Razorbacks a demoralizing 101-60 loss.

After the game, Razorbacks head coach Mike Neighbors gave high praise to Vandy and what they have been able to accomplish under Coach Ralph.

“[Vanderbilt] is relentless," Neighbors said postgame. "They wear on you, they wear you down, and I think that’s why, in a very short period of time, [they] have become one of the best in the league.”

The Commodores currently hold only a 3-3 record in Southeastern Conference play, ranking seventh, but the win over Arkansas on Thursday snapped a three-game losing streak that came at the hands of the Kentucky Wildcats, Ole Miss Rebels and LSU Tigers.

Sophomore forward Khamil Pierre has adjusted well in her second year of college basketball, and her first as a full-time starter.

She has averaged 22.2 points per game, 10.1 rebounds, and 3.1 steals, leading the team in those metrics, along with 2.2 assists and 0.3 blocks in 29.3 minutes per contest.

The sophomore has been one of the key pieces of the team's ability to wear opposing teams down, with a team-leading 317 field goal attempts this year, and only seven coming from beyond the arc.

Pierre has made her buckets at a 55.8% clip, being an efficient scorer with the ability to clean up any of her misses by averaging 3.7 offensive rebounds per game.

It has been a strong two-thirds of the year for Vanderbilt and for their star sophomore forward under fourth-year head coach Shea Ralph.

With only 10 games left to play in the regular season, the team needs eight wins to eclipse their full-year total from last season, and they have more than a fair chance of doing just that.