If Lady Vols were a measuring stick for Vanderbilt, then Shea Ralph is optimistic

Vanderbilt women's basketball lost to Tennessee on Sunday for the third time in three tries under coach Shea Ralph. But to Ralph, this one felt different than the others.

The Commodores (9-9, 0-4 SEC) are off to an 0-4 conference start in Ralph's second season, their worst since 2018-19. They have just eight available players for the remainder of the season. Despite that depleted roster, Vanderbilt − after going down 21 points − outscored the Lady Vols in the fourth quarter and ripped off a 12-2 run before falling, 84-71 at Memorial Gymnasium.

"Coaching my team felt different in the huddle (from last season)," Ralph said. "They're locked in and felt different. ... I feel like I can start to feel and see the shifts in those moments of adversity because when you don't have that, it kind of all falls apart when your back is against the wall. And now we're showing when our back is against a wall that we're starting to fully buy in."

In her first season, Ralph guided the Commodores to their first SEC tournament win in six years and a berth in the WNIT despite a 16-19 record. On the court, this season has been a step back. Vanderbilt has losses to UT-Martin, Saint Joseph's and ETSU, with just one marquee win on the resume (at Columbia). Despite that, Ralph remains optimistic about the state of her team after playing the Lady Vols closer than last season − and under tougher circumstances.

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Extreme attrition

Vanderbilt, for the rest of the season, will have just eight players available.

Three projected starters − Jordyn Cambridge, Iyana Moore and Kaylon Smith − went down with season-ending injuries before the first game, and freshman center Amauri Williams was dismissed from the team. That has taken what was supposed to be a 12-player roster down to eight. Tennessee played 11 players Sunday, 10 of whom scored.

Vanderbilt has two of its intended post players (Smith and Williams) unavailable, leaving it with just two posts on the roster in Yaubryon Chambers and Sacha Washington. Ralph often plays a four-guard lineup with freshman Ryanne Allen at the power forward position, but Allen has struggled at times to defend there without fouling. She fouled out of the Lady Vols matchup. That lack of post depth showed as the Commodores were outrebounded, 42-28, despite equaling Tennessee in shooting.

"(Tennessee was) way bigger than us, yes, are way more athletic," Ralph said. " ... If we can come out and be completely disciplined, and focused, and focus in terms of like, our accountability, our communication, our effort ... then I feel like we can be competitive. And in any game that we play, if we don't do that, then the talent will overwhelm us at some point; the talent,the size will overwhelm us."

The bright spots

The majority of the production for Vanderbilt this season has come from three players: Ciaja Harbison, Marnelle Garraud and Sacha Washington. Against Tennessee, Harbison had 27 points, three rebounds four assists and two steals; Garraud had 19 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals; and Washington had 13 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.

Harbison is the SEC's second-leading scorer at 19.3 points per game and adds on 4.9 assists per game with a 1.7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. She and Garraud were both additions from the transfer portal, Harbison from Saint Louis and Garraud from Boston College.

"It was gonna look a lot different in our minds," Ralph said. "But ... when the injuries and all those things happen and then (Garraud and Harbison) just stepped in and embraced that role, it wasn't exactly what they thought it was gonna look like when they signed up to play here. But I can't say enough about how those kids have adapted to the environment, how much they brought to our team on and off the court."

Schedule eases up

Vanderbilt has had a particularly rough start to the SEC schedule. They've already played Tennessee and LSU, both undefeated in conference play, and two of the SEC's top teams in Arkansas and South Carolina are next up. But after that, the schedule eases up.

Kentucky, Texas A&M and Auburn also have yet to get a conference win, and Florida has struggled. Those teams could give the Commodores their best opportunities this season for an SEC win.

Last season, Vanderbilt finished 4-12 in the SEC, and the Commodores have yet to face a team they defeated in 2022. The 0-4 start doesn't rule out equaling or improving on last season's record, but Vanderbilt now will have to find ways to win with limited personnel.

The way Vanderbilt played against Tennessee gives Ralph optimism the Commodores have better days ahead. Playing the Lady Vols within single digits in the fourth quarter is a sign of progress, and after all, Vanderbilt's last win over Tennessee was in that very same 2019 season it started 0-5.

"I just can't wait to get back to work on Tuesday," Ralph said, "to get better at some of these things down the stretch against a team like Tennessee − because there's a lot of them in the SEC − that we're in position to win the next game we play."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Vanderbilt's Shea Ralph was more determined after Lady Vols loss