The Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team represents Vanderbilt University in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team is coached by Shea Ralph.

The Commodores have never won the regular season SEC championship, although they have won six SEC tournament titles (1993, 1995, 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2009); the SEC has awarded its official championship based solely on regular-season record since the 1985–86 season.

Memorial Gymnasium

The Commodores play their home games in Memorial Gymnasium. Memorial Gymnasium was built in the early 1950s. It was dedicated as the campus memorial to students and alumni killed in World War II; a plaque commemorating those who died is displayed in the Gym's North lobby.

At the time of the Gym's construction, there was a serious discussion within the Vanderbilt community about whether the school should de-emphasize intercollegiate athletics and refocus on its academic program. As a compromise between those who advocated increased athletics competition and those who argued in favor of de-emphasis, the Gymnasium was built to hold only about 9,000 seats, and it would be readily adaptable to other uses—significantly, as a possible concert hall.

Consequently, the gymnasium floor was built up above its surroundings, more in the nature of a stage. The areas out of bounds along the sidelines were very wide, in contrast with the small facility which it replaced, where the walls were right along the sidelines and players could scrape their shoulders bringing the ball up the court. This necessitated the placement of the benches at the end of the court, which was not highly unusual at the time.

Memorial Gym is well known for its unusual design. The end-of-the-floor bench location is now unique in major college basketball, and SEC coaches who travel to Memorial, along with coaches from other schools who have played at Vanderbilt as a post-season venue, have said that the unusual setup gives Vanderbilt a tremendous home court advantage, since no other facility in which opponents play is arranged in such a way.

Year by year results

Conference tournament winners noted with # Source

Postseason results

NCAA Division I Vanderbilt has reached the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 30 times. They have a record of 42–30.

1986 #5 Second Round #4 Oklahoma L 67–86 1987 #5 Second Round #4 James Madison L 60–68 1989 #7 First Round #10 St. Joseph's L 68–82 1990 #6 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #11 Rutgers#3 Iowa#2 Auburn W 78–75W 61–56L 67–89 1991 #10 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #7 South Carolina#2 Purdue#3 Auburn W 73–64W 69–63L 45–58 1992 #3 Second RoundSweet SixteenElite Eight #6 Connecticut#2 Miami (FL)#1 Virginia W 75–47W 77–67L 58–70 1993 #1 Second RoundSweet SixteenElite EightFinal Four #9 California#4 Stephen F. Austin#6 Louisiana Tech#2 Texas Tech W 82–63W 59–56W 58–53L 46–60 1994 #2 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #15 Grambling State#10 Minnesota#3 North Carolina W 95–85W 98–72L 69–73 1995 #1 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #16 Northern Illinois#8 Memphis#4 Purdue W 90–54W 95–68L 66–67 1996 #3 First RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite Eight #14 Harvard#6 Wisconsin#2 Iowa#1 Connecticut W 100–83W 96–82W 74–63L 57–67 1997 #6 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #11 Washington#3 Kansas#2 Georgia W 74–62W 51–44L 52–66 1998 #6 First Round #11 UC Santa Barbara L 71–76 2000 #9 First RoundSecond Round #8 Kansas#1 Louisiana Tech W 71–69 (2OT)L 65–66 2001 #3 First RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite Eight #14 Idaho State#6 Colorado#2 Iowa State#1 Notre Dame W 83–57W 65–59W 84–65L 64–72 2002 #1 First RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite Eight #16 Oakland#9 Arizona State#4 North Carolina#2 Tennessee W 63–38W 61–35W 70–61L 63–68 2003 #4 First RoundSecond Round #13 Liberty#5 Boston College W 54–44L 85–86 2004 #2 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #15 Lipscomb#10 Chattanooga#6 Stanford W 76–45W 60–44L 55–57 2005 #5 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #12 Montana#4 Kansas State#1 Michigan State W 67–44W 63–60L 64–76 2006 #8 First RoundSecond Round #9 Louisville#1 North Carolina W 76–64L 70–89 2007 #2 First RoundSecond Round #15 Delaware State#7 Bowling Green W 62–47L 59–60 2008 #4 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #13 Montana#5 West Virginia#1 Maryland W 75–62W 64–46L 66–80 2009 #4 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #13 Western Carolina#5 Kansas State#1 Maryland W 73–44W 74–61L 74–78 2010 #6 First RoundSecond Round #11 DePaul#3 Xavier W 83–76 (OT)L 62–63 2011 #10 First Round #7 Louisville L 62–81 2012 #7 First RoundSecond Round #10 Middle Tenn#2 Duke W 60–46L 80–96 2013 #8 First RoundSecond Round #9 St. Joseph's#1 Connecticut W 60–54L 44–77 2014 #8 First Round #9 Arizona State L 61–69 2024 #12 First FourFirst Round #12 Columbia#5 Baylor W 72–68L 63–80 2025 #7 First Round #10 Oregon L 73–77 (OT) 2026 #2 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #15 High Point#7 Illinois#6 Notre Dame W 102–61W 75–57L 64–67

AIAW Division I The Commodores made one appearance in the AIAW National Division I basketball tournament, with a combined record of 0–1.

1982 First Round Delta State L, 79–90

Other awards and honors Elan Brown, 2010 All-SEC Rookie Team Tiffany Clarke, 2010 All-SEC Rookie Team Merideth Marsh, 2010 Second Team All-SEC Jence Ann Rhoads, 2008 All-SEC Rookie Team Jence Ann Rhoads, 2010, 2011 First Team All-SEC Jence Ann Rhoads, 2009, 2010, 2011 SEC Academic Honor Roll Jennifer Risper, 2008-09 Vanderbilt women's Co-Athletes of the Year Jennifer Risper, Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), National Defensive Player of the Year (2009) Jennifer Risper, SEC All-Tournament Team (2009) Jennifer Risper, SEC All-Defensive Team (2008) Jennifer Risper, Second-team All-Southeastern Conference honouree (2008) Jennifer Risper, All-tournament honors at the 2007 Contra Costa Times in Berkeley, California Jennifer Risper, All-tournament selection (2007 Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament.) Jennifer Risper, Female Newcomer of the Year honors among all Vanderbilt student-athletes (2006) Christina Wirth, Earned All-Tournament honors at the 2006 VU Holiday Classic. Christina Wirth, All-tournament honors at the 2007 Contra Costa Times Classic in Berkeley, Calif Christina Wirth, Most Valuable Player of the 2007 Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament Christina Wirth, Named a first-team All-Southeastern Conference honoree (2008) Christina Wirth, Second-team recognition from the Associated Press (2008) Christina Wirth, Named preseason All-SEC by league coaches (first team) and writers (second team) (2008) Christina Wirth, Named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District IV third team(2008) Christine Wirth, All-Senior All-America First Team by the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award committee. Christine Wirth, All-SEC Honors Christine Wirth, SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player Christine Wirth, SEC All-Tournament Team Christina Wirth has received honorable mention on the 2009 State Farm Coaches' All-America Team Christina Wirth, 2008-09 Vanderbilt women's Co-Athletes of the Year

Player awards SEC Awards Player of the Year Chantelle Anderson – 2002 Mikayla Blakes – 2026

Freshman of the Year Wendy Scholtens – 1988 Donna Harris – 1990 Mikayla Blakes – 2025 Aubrey Galvan – 2026

See also Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball

References

External links