March Madness Begins at Memorial Gym – Vanderbilt University Athletics – Official Athletics Website
No. 6/6 Vanderbilt (27-4, 13-3 SEC) vs. High Point (27-5, 13-3 Big South)
Saturday, March 21, 2026 • 6 p.m. CT
Memorial Gymnasium • Nashville, Tenn. • ESPNews
94.9 The Fan • Vanderbilt Athletics App • Live Stats • Postseason Prospectus • Game Notes
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 2-seed Vanderbilt ladies’s basketball staff opens its run within the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Saturday at Memorial Gymnasium, because the Commodores tackle No. 15-seed High Point. Tipoff is about for six pm CT and airs reside on ESPNEWS.
Starting Five
>> Vandy enters the 2026 NCAA Tournament because the No. 2 seed and sports activities a 27-4 total report and a 13-3 mark in SEC video games. The Commodores are ranked No. 6 in each the Associated Press prime 25 and the USA Today/WBCA coaches ballot. Vandy’s 27 wins set a college report for many regular-season wins, whereas the 13 SEC wins additionally set a college report for probably the most convention wins in a season.
>> The Commodores are the No. 2 seed within the Fort Worth 1 Region. It is the primary time because the 2006-07 season that Vanderbilt has been a top-two seed within the NCAA Tournament. It is the fourth time Vandy has been a No. 2 seed within the NCAA Tournament, because the Commodores are 5-3 in March Madness contests as a two seed.
>> The Dores are internet hosting NCAA Tournament video games at Memorial Gym for the primary time because the 2011-12 marketing campaign. Vanderbilt is 14-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament video games performed on its house court docket.
>> Vanderbilt is making its thirtieth NCAA Tournament look in program historical past. It is the Twelfth-most March Madness appearances in NCAA historical past, whereas it’s the fifth-most bids by an SEC staff. It is the third-straight season Vandy has earned an at-large bid, which is the longest stretch for this system since incomes 15-straight bids from 1999-2014.
>> It would be the second time that Vanderbilt and High Point have confronted off on the hardwood, whereas it will likely be the college’s first March Madness assembly. The Commodores scored a 70-54 victory over the Panthers at Memorial Gym on Dec. 4, 2011.
Game Coverage
Saturday’s contest airs reside throughout the nation on ESPNEWS at 6 pm CT with Jay Alter and Kim Adams on the decision. Fans can take heed to Jake Lyman domestically on 94.9 The Fan and the Vanderbilt Commodores app Outside of Nashville.
National Rankings
The Commodores sit at No. 6 in each the Associated Press prime 25 and the USA Today/WBCA Coaches ballot this week. Vandy has been within the prime 10 in each polls every of the final 11 weeks, which is the longest stretch since a 20-week streak between the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons. This season marks the primary time because the 2001-02 marketing campaign that the Dores have been ranked within the prime 10 in each main faculty ladies’s basketball polls.
Blakes Closing in on Single-Season Scoring Record
Sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes is nineteen factors away from breaking Wendy Scholtens’ Vanderbilt single-season scoring report of 855 factors. Blakes enters Saturday’s NCAA Tournament first spherical contest with 837 factors scored this season, which is the second-most in a season in program historical past, and third-most by an SEC participant within the NCAA period (put up 1981-82).
Rolling within the National Awards
Both sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes and head coach Shea Ralph have been racking up the postseason awards.
Blakes has been named a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, USBWA, USA Today, The Sporting News, ESPN and The Athletic. Blakes is on the Wooden Award National Ballot, whereas she is a Wade Trophy finalist and a Naismith Player of the Year Semifinalist.
Ralph has been named the National Coach of the Year from the USBWA, The Sporting News, ESPN and The Athletic. She is the second Vanderbilt ladies’s basketball head coach to earn National Coach of the Year honors, as she joins Jim Foster who earned the award in 1992-93.
Scouting the Panthers
High Point earned an automated bid after successful the Big South Tournament, the place they defeated Radford, 71-67, within the title recreation. The Panthers are 27-5 total and 13-3 in Big South play. HPU holds a NET rating of 142 coming into the NCAA Tournament.
Junior Macy Spencer (18.4 ppg) and senior Aaliyah Collins (15.2 ppg) common double-digit factors for the Panthers. Senior Anna Hager leads the staff in rebounding with 5.2 rebounds per recreation.
HPU averages 74.2 factors per recreation and permits 58.9 factors per recreation. The Panthers are capturing 44.8 % from the ground and 33.1 % from behind the arc. Defensively, High Point permits opponents to shoot 36.8 % from the sphere and 28.1 % past the 3-point line.
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