Shea Ralph just told us the secret to Vanderbilt’s perfect 16-0 season, and it’s not what you think. The seventh-ranked Commodores’ coach talked about why having the best players doesn’t always mean winning after they beat Missouri 99-68. Her view on how to put together a team came directly from her time in championship programs.

Ralph builds teams based on chemistry and culture. These are the real things that lead to championships and long-term success.

In her postgame comments, Ralph shared, “I’ve been really lucky to be in a position where I was at a place where we won lots of championships, and the argument was always like, well, they have the best players.”

“It wasn’t. We had the right people. We had really good players, don’t get me wrong, but you can’t have all the best players. That’s not even fair to say. We had a great team. And when you have a great team, you have a player like Mikayla Blakes, who did have a slow start today, and her teammates stepped up for her, which she does for them a lot; that’s meaningful.”

That’s the culture we experienced against Missouri.

Star guard Mikayla Blakes had a bad night, making only 6 of 17 shots, but her teammates didn’t freak out. Aubrey Galvan scored 19 points on good shooting (8-for-17), and Sacha Washington had a huge game with 15 points and 16 rebounds. That’s how the team-first attitude works.

Vanderbilt’s 31-15 win in the fourth quarter showed that one player’s bad night doesn’t stop a well-built team.

During her postgame comments, Shea Ralph continued talking about this philosophy and how daily execution is linked to championship hopes.

“We’re formidable because we are a great team. And I think in order to do the things that we want to do here in this program, this year, and beyond, we need to have a great team. Our chemistry, our culture, our contributions, all the things on the court, off the court, in the classroom, in the community, it all matters.”

The results are clear.

Vanderbilt is 16-0 overall and 3-0 in SEC play, just one win away from matching the 1992-93 team’s 17-0 start that got them to the Final Four. Ralph’s daily focus on the process over wins is paying off.

Mikayla Blakes shows Vanderbilt’s team approach wins championships

Mikayla Blakes is the proof that Ralph needed. The Vanderbilt sophomore just won the 2025 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year award.

Blakes won the 2025 USA Women’s AmeriCup in Santiago, Chile, by a record 27 points against Brazil in the gold medal game. She scored 14.0 points per game in six starts, the most on Team USA. She was named tournament MVP and made the All-Star Five at just 20. This performance proved everything scouts thought about her star power.

Her first year in college was historic.

Top Stories

Fired John Harbaugh Announces News for Giants & Browns as Ex-Ravens HC Confirms Stance on NFL Job – Report

PGA Tour Confirms Brooks Koepka’s Return but It Comes With $85M Punishment

NASCAR 2026 Championship Format Explained: Points System, Bonuses, Stages & More

Ravens Make Matt Nagy Announcement as John Harbaugh Makes Feelings Clear on Next NFL HC Job

Jordan Love Confirms Feelings on Matt LaFleur’s Firing Rumors After Contradicting HC Over Bears Loss

Golf Loses Another Classic as a 53-Year-Old Course Prepares to Vanish

Blakes broke the NCAA freshman record for points scored in a single game by scoring 55. She scored an average of 23.3 points per game, second in the SEC, and had 20 games where she scored 20 points. After that, she won the SEC Freshman of the Year, First Team All-SEC, and the USBWA Tamika Catchings Award. But she never cut herself off from her teammates.

Blakes is now 16-0 with an average of 24.7 points per game, and Vanderbilt is still undefeated.

The person from Somerset, New Jersey, goes above and beyond what was expected.