The Tournament’s Best Subplot Is Shea Ralph Vs. Her Old Coach

The NCAA women's tournament selection committee has never let an opportunity for rematch, rehash, or reunion pass them by. When the bracket was released on Sunday, it was no surprise to see a rather cinematic Elite Eight meeting set up in the Fort Worth 1 region, something in the vein of Obi-Wan vs. Darth Vader. The circle is now complete. When former Huskies point guard Shea Ralph left UConn's bench in 2021 after 13 seasons as Geno Auriemma's assistant, she was but the learner. Now she is the master. Her second-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores, ranked No. 6 in the AP polls, set school records for regular-season and SEC wins this year. They were the darling of the conference award ballots. Ralph won SEC Coach of the Year, and her young starting backcourt got some shine, too: Sophomore scorer Mikayla Blakes won SEC Player of the Year and point guard Aubrey Galvan was named SEC Freshman of the Year. Well before the bracket announcement, the two coaches had been pulled onto the same campaign trail by the star sophomores at the helm of each team. Blakes is a daring and speedy guard who moves with a kind of wobbly endurance, like her long limbs are coming unscrewed from the rest of her body. (Her whistle, in some games, is astonishing.) Galvan's presence this year has let Blakes focus on what she does best: catch, get set, and shoot in a single motion. Coupled with the fact that she’s one of the better off-ball movers in college basketball, she gets great shots off with ease.