There was no better time for No.4 Vanderbilt to turn the tables on No.2 South Carolina. The Gamecocks were coming off a deflating loss to Oklahoma, while Shea Ralph’s side was 20-0, an undefeated start that included wins over LSU and Michigan. However, Dawn Staley and Co. showed Vanderbilt the reality, handing them their first defeat with the scoreline reading 103-74.

The Commodores were outclassed. Even after scoring 12 3-pointers, South Carolina unleashed 10 while also forcing 20 turnovers. Dawn Staley changed up her lineup, going for just one true post with 4 guards to start the game. Ralph’s side was met by speed as South Carolina scored 21 points on the fastbreak. They also lost the battle on the boards 32-26.

While the numbers show the gap between the two, Shea Ralph was extremely disappointed in one particular thing: their lack of spirit.

“I would have loved to go undefeated. Did I think we would? For as crappy as we played today, for a lot of that game, especially in the second quarter, in the beginning of the third, we were in it,” Ralph told the media. “We can never let the wind go out of our sails. We can never lie down and die. And I think for me, that was what was most disappointing and embarrassing. We just didn’t play like ourselves. And at points in the game, it looked like we quit. And that just can’t be who we are.”

The third quarter meltdown was the one that deflated Vanderbilt. South Carolina started the game on an 11-2 run and led by as many as 21 in the first half. They were picking pockets, getting to the paint, and surprising Ralph with their smaller lineup. Commodores weren’t getting quality three-point looks, which they thrive on. However, Vanderbilt regrouped and came back in the second quarter, cutting the deficit down to 11 at halftime. 

The Gamecocks then outscored Vanderbilt 27-12 in the third quarter to make it 82-56 after three. They punctured Vanderbilt’s spirits with a few minutes of better basketball, as the score difference graph was only going up after 20 minutes. It was their worst defensive showing of the season by far. There were too many open shots in the paint, where the Gamecocks thrive, while also letting them score from the outside. Their defensive rebound percentage of 48% per Barttorvik shows a clear lack of effort. That number was never below 52.4% before this game. 

“We just couldn’t defend them. So you can’t do both. You can’t give them the ball and then not guard them,” Ralph further said. “That is a recipe for absolute disaster, which happened today.”

In addition, Mikayla Blakes looked like the lone warrior for the Commodores. She scored 23 points, had 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda chipped in with 13 points and 4 rebounds, but no other Vanderbilt player reached double digits. Their offense was constantly interrupted by turnovers, which ultimately led to the loss.

Nevertheless, the team will need to leave this behind, as this loss could ultimately be for their good. 

Shea Ralph Expresses A Silver Lining In Their South Carolina Loss

Vanderbilt and Shea Ralph hadn’t really played much competition. Apart from LSU and Michigan, they played just 1 quad 1 game, 3 quad 2, 7 games each of quad 3 and quad 4, respectively. Being undefeated gave momentum. Ralph hadn’t quite figured out the flaws of this team yet. And going up against one of the title contenders, they were out in the open.

“When we spoke to them as a team, they understood the things that were exposed today and the ways that we need to get better,” Shea Ralph said. “They know that they see the ways that we haven’t prepared for a moment like this and understand the things that maybe we didn’t know yet. They also know that we’re really good, and you know that this doesn’t end our season.”

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To correct any issue, it needs to be understood first. The team was met with many surprises, like the guard-heavy lineup from Staley that focused on ball pressure. These are the things only elite teams implement at the highest level. 

They couldn’t adapt quickly. Now that Ralph and the players understand their flaws better, they can start to work on them. Even LSU was undefeated once before going through those rough 3 games. But now they are back to their previous form. That’s the arc Vanderbilt could go on, and it would be beneficial for their long-term prospects.