Why Vanderbilt's Shea Ralph is still talking March after loss to Tennessee

KNOXVILLE — Shea Ralph and Brinae Alexander agreed: Despite the scoreboard in Vanderbilt's 66-52 loss to Tennessee, Sunday was one of the Commodores' best performances in Ralph's first season as coach of the Commodores. .

The No. 10 Lady Vols (21-4, 10-2 SEC) outmanned Vanderbilt (12-14, 3-9) in both meetings this season. On Sunday, the culprit was a rebounding deficit of 19 and taking just six free throws to Tennessee's 20 in a 66-52 loss at Thompson-Boling Arena.

"We're already undersized and (rebounding) is something we work on a lot and I think we just got away from it," Alexander, Vanderbilt's standout forward, said. "Me myself and the guards, we've gotta get in there on the boards more and that's something I've been striving to work on so it's just something we've gotta get back in the gym and attack."

The Commodores played aggressive defense, double-teaming in the paint and forcing 11 steals to just one from the Lady Vols. But a team that has struggled to score all season did so again, shooting just 31% from the field and 22% from 3-point range. In previous games, Vanderbilt struggled with turnovers and often passed up open shots before giving the ball up. On Sunday, the Commodores had more open shots but didn't make them. Ralph would rather have the latter.

Alexander (19 points on 8-for-20 shooting) and Iyana Moore (17 points on 6-for-15) led Vanderbilt's scoring.

Regardless of the incremental improvements, the reality remains the Commodores' postseason hopes are slim. Vanderbilt needs to win its last four games to finish with a winning record and become postseason-eligible — or it can win what would likely be four games in four days in the SEC Tournament. The Commodores are in this spot despite their top-level defense because of the extent to which they've struggled to score. For Vanderbilt, the efforts now turn to fighting for its postseason life.

After getting two straight SEC wins for the first time since 2017, the Commodores have lost their last three games. Time is running out for Vanderbilt to make something more of its season.

Ralph came to downtrodden Vanderbilt after from a UConn program that once won four straight national championships and 111 consecutive games. She knows what it's like to win all there is to win, and she doesn't believe in moral victories. The reality is that the Commodores got swept by Tennessee and are still a ways away from being consistently competitive in the SEC.

But Ralph isn't despairing. She saw an offense that played better if it could get shots to drop, a defensive identity and two freshmen — Moore and Sacha Washington — grow into their roles. 

The lack of size for Vanderbilt has been a consistent struggle, and the struggles with rebounding and foul trouble aren't new. Whether there's a solution this year remains to be seen. But Ralph isn't giving up hope just yet.

"We have the SEC Tournament coming up, our goal is to still be playing in March if possible, and that will always be the goal of our program as we move forward," Ralph said. " ... I don't think there's a game left on our schedule that we can't win but we have to play great. It's not like we're gonna go in and it's a shoo-in, that's not ever how it's gonna be in this conference, but we have an opportunity every game we play to leave with a win."

THE GAME:Tennessee's defense continues to win games, stifling Vanderbilt 66-52 at home

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.