GREENVILLE, S.C. — No. 5 Vanderbilt came up short in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament on Friday.
The Commodores opened the playoffs with an 89-78 loss to No. 24 Ole Miss, which almost certainly cost them the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
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They made a name for themselves in the tournament after finishing second in the SEC tournament, winning the league’s Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards. They finished the game without head coach Shea Ralph, who was ejected for her fourth foul on Makayla Blakes early in the fourth quarter. It was the first eviction in her career.
Always calm, Ralph rushed from the bench to the center of the court less than thirty seconds into the fourth quarter to argue with Blakes in the corner. Blake chased a loose ball in the corner and was blocked by a Mississippi State player. Vanderbilt trailed 65-43 but applied pressure early in the comeback.
“What the fuck is wrong with this foul?” Ralph yelled on the broadcast audio. “…You’re terrible. You’re terrible.”
The fifth-year head coach gathered her team before heading toward the exit, then turned to shake hands or offer words of encouragement to each player on the bench before being escorted through the tunnel by security. She said after the game that she didn’t want to be kicked out for any kind of shock to motivate her team.
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“I also think what I said at the time made sense and the actions I took made sense and I will stand behind that,” Ralph said. “You want to kick me out, then they can kick me out.
“What I really liked was the fight my team showed. There are only so many ways you can say something over and over again. So I said it a different way and then I got kicked out, which was good.”
To avoid a fine, Ralph refused to explain more in depth which she said made sense. No collective report of the referees’ views was provided.
“As coaches, we just want consistency for our team, for our staff, for everybody involved in the game of basketball, just consistency,” Ralph said. “That’s it. That’s all I’m looking for. And respect.”
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In the top 16 announced twice by the NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee, the top three of the University of Connecticut, UCLA and the University of South Carolina remain unchanged. But a fourth program is up for grabs, changing hands between Vanderbilt, which was revealed first, and Texas, which was revealed second. They face off in Saturday’s SEC semifinals, with the winner likely to earn the eventual No. 1 seed.
The committee took the recent results seriously and went head-to-head in its disclosures. With Vanderbilt exiting early — and being largely uncompetitive in defeat — it’s now heavily tilted toward Texas, which has a better resume overall. SEC seeding is important because the top four teams in the conference need to be split into different regions. Even if Vanderbilt were a true No. 5 seed, it would switch to UCLA in the regionals.
Vanderbilt’s long night started early at Bons Secour Wellness Arena. Black missed all eight shots, including four three-pointers, and the team started the game 1-of-16 from the field. Not even an easy layup, and a few free throws. Mississippi State led 23-5 and capitalized on turnovers to go up 11-0.
Blake committed his crucial third foul 4:35 into the second quarter with Vanderbilt trailing 35-12 and had to sit out the rest of the half. By halftime, the seventh-seeded Rebels held a 49-17 lead as Vanderbilt shot 17 percent from the field.
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Ole Miss is competing for a Top 16 seed and hosting rights to the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament. They appeared in the commission’s first disclosure last month but have since disappeared. They will face the winner of No. 11 Alabama and No. 3 Texas on Saturday (7 p.m. ET). The earlier semifinals were No. 1 South Carolina and No. 4 LSU.
The Commodores pulled back from a 32-point deficit to 11 with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. Black is a strong contender for Naismith Player of the Year. He scored 24 points on 8-of-27 shooting, including 5-of-14 from outside. She scored just one point and missed all 10 of her field goals in the half.
“I thought she was fouled. She was detained and there’s only so much you can do to that,” Ralph said.
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Aubrey Galvan, a leading candidate for Naismith Freshman of the Year honors, finished with 18 points, four assists and four rebounds. She also only scored one point in the first half.
Cotie McMahon (27 points) and Latasha Latimore (28 points) had strong performances for Ole Miss. The Rebels shot over 70% in the first quarter and nearly 60% in the second half. On January 30, the University of Mississippi defeated Vanderbilt University 83-75.