Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball fell at Texas 87-66 tonight in a game that was more closely contested than the score shows. Vanderbilt put up a great fight and kept it a game after an abysmal first quarter which saw them fall behind 21-10 as Mikayla Blakes exited early with 2 fouls. Texas pulled away late and increased the margin of victory, which won’t help the ‘Dores in their fight for NCAA tournament seeding.

The ‘Dores were led by Blakes and Khamil Pierre, per usual, who put up 22 and 26 points, respectively. Texas was led by superstar sophomore Madison Booker, who scored a very efficient 20 points, while surpassing the 1,000 career points mark just two thirds of the way through her sophomore season.

Yet another slow start…

A common theme for Vanderbilt when they play high level competition, they got down early and forced themselves to try and dig out of a massive hole. There simply is not enough talent on the team beyond Blakes and Pierre to expect to be able to come back against the best of the best when down double digits early. The team must come out from the jump with the same desperation, intensity, and physicality that it has when attempting to come back, anything less will cause this same story to play out over and over again.

Poor defense is becoming a theme.

Vanderbilt has struggled mightily on the defensive end of things since they beat Alabama, allowing opposing teams to score over 80 on very efficient shooting in each of their last 3 games. That just won’t fly. The concerning thing is that teams have been able to score against them in multiple different ways. Ole Miss dominated them physically in the paint, Florida used their size and speed to constantly get by Vanderbilt’s interior defense, and Texas absolutely lit them up from deep. Frankly, Vandy needs to go back to the drawing board with defense. Whatever they’re doing has simply been figured out and while it is true that they lack size in the interior, there’s no reason for teams to be able to score in every single way against them. They need to return to the team who will give up some second chance or paint points but will force a multitude of turnovers while stopping their opposition from getting remotely comfortable. If they don't improve their defense quickly, there will be no capacity for upsets with this team and likely a quick exit in the tournament.

You cannot take Blakes or Pierre off the court.

First off, Khamil Pierre is officially back. This is now back-to-back games for her with 20+ points after struggling against Alabama and Florida, that in and of itself is worth celebrating. Blakes has also continued to assert herself as one of, if not the best guard in the SEC. The rest of the team, though, simply is not performing at the level they need to. Texas got that lead in the first half when Blakes had to sit early with 2 fouls (just as Ole Miss did both times they played). When Blakes and Pierre were back in, it was a relatively even game, but as soon as one went out things just got out of hand. While there is no questioning their greatness, when the other isn’t on the court they become the sole focus of opposing defenses and their production and efficiency drop considerably. Both Pierre and Blakes have to be better about not getting into foul trouble because this team does not have a chance without them.

Iyanna Moore.

She needs to be better. This is 2 games where she has been downright bad, and it's no surprise that Vanderbilt has gotten blown out without their best shooter and 3rd scorer producing.

Ultimately, Vanderbilt showed the fight and will that they seemed to be lacking against Ole Miss, but against a superiorly talented opponent this was not enough to overcome a slow start and some defensive gaffes. Vanderbilt will need to go at least 3-2 (which they should) in their final 5 SEC games to secure a decent seed in the NCAA tournament. They have a much needed bye, and take on Mississippi State at home on Thursday, February 13 next.