Walking into the South Carolina Gamecocks' home ground at Colonial Life Arena didn't seem to be a challenge for Shea Ralph and her team.

The Gamecocks were fresh off a loss to Oklahoma while Vanderbilt was undefeated. That was until South Carolina flipped the script. The Commodores walked out with their first loss of the season, in a damaging 103-74 defeat.

But HC Ralph made one thing clear, it wasn't over yet. “We have won 20 games. We’re 20-1. The world is not ending. We are going to be fine,” she said postgame. The sharp comment served as a reminder that Vanderbilt’s season was nowhere near done and they would regroup as soon as possible.

In the unforgiving SEC conference, the idea of 'you're only as good as your previous game' doesn't work. Vanderbilt got their reality check with this loss, but it gave them a moment to sharpen their edges for what’s next.

Ralph admitted that they were caught off guard with defensive struggles. She noted that the team looked rattled and failed to execute at the level she knows they’re capable of playing." It doesn’t get any easier. This is the SEC.”

Ralph acknowledged how South Carolina exposed her team. “I think we can learn a ton from a game like this,” she said.

“It was an incredible environment. Credit to South Carolina, because I thought they played really well, maybe the best they played all season.” Vandy struggled early, turning the ball over 16 times in the first half, a mistake that the home team took full advantage of.

But she also emphasized that one setback “doesn’t negate the fact that we’ve been really good up to this point”. The Commodores were carrying a school-record of a 20-game winning streak before this matchup.

Ralph finds the silver lining in SC's curveball

Vanderbilt briefly took the lead in the second quarter to led by 11 at halftime, but South Carolina’s 27-12 run in the third put the game away. The Gamecocks followed it up with a 21-18 in the 4th.

However, Ralph’s biggest frustration wasn’t the strategy, but the response. “We can never let the wind go out of our sails,” she said. “At points in the game, it looked like we quit. And that just can’t be who we are.”

But Blakes 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists support somewhat helped. Still, Ralph sees growth ahead. “They [the players] understood the things that were exposed today and the ways that we need to get better,” she said. “They also know that we’re really good, and you know that this doesn’t end our season.”

As Vanderbilt faces another ranked opponent in Ole Miss, Ralph, it remains to best seen how Ralph's words of “We are going to be fine” shape up.

Written by

Fatema Kapasi

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu