NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 19/21-ranked Vanderbilt women’s basketball team cruised to a 96-48 victory over Furman in its 2025-26 home opener on Monday night.
The Commodores used a balanced offensive attack to run past the Paladins, as Vandy had seven players score eight or more points in the victory. The Commodores shot a season-best 56.1 percent from the floor and made 10 3-point field goals on Monday. Vandy was just as rock solid on defense, as the Dores forced 28 turnovers and held Furman to a 33.3 percent shooting percentage.
With the win, Vanderbilt improves to 2-0 overall on the year. The Dores have now opened four-straight seasons with back-to-back wins for the first time since a nine-year stretch between 2006-07 to 2014-15.
A total of six Vandy players tallied double-digit points in the victory. Graduate Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda led the way for the Dores with a team-high 16-point performance against Furman. It is her first double-figure scoring performance with the Dores, while it is her 19th career collegiate game scoring 10-plus points. The 6-2 transfer from Texas matched her career high in assists with four and pulled down five rebounds.
Sophomore Mikayla Blakes had a 15-point performance in the win. It is the guard’s 21st-straight performance with 10-plus points dating back to last season. Blakes has scored double figures in 34 of 35 games played at Vanderbilt.
Senior Justine Pissott registered 13 points and hit a team-best three 3-pointers. Junior Aiyana Mitchell scored 12 points off the bench, as the 6-4 post player recorded double-digit points in back-to-back games for the first time in her career.
Freshman Aubrey Galvan had her first career double-digit scoring performance with the Dores, as the point guard had 11 points to go along with a career-high eight assists. Galvan once again filled up the stat sheet, as she pulled down seven rebounds to go with three steals.
Senior Jada Brown scored double-figure points for the first time since her freshman season, as the Bentonville, Arkansas, native tallied 10 points and hit a pair of three-pointers off the bench.
Vanderbilt improves to 45-4 all-time in home openers at Memorial Gymnasium, while Vandy is now 5-0 in its first home game of the season under head coach Shea Ralph. The Commodores have now won 21-straight home games against non-conference foes.
Vandy outscored Furman, 50-14, in points in the paint, while the Commodores registered 33 points off the bench. Vanderbilt was just as strong defensively on Monday night, as the Dores forced Furman into 28 miscues, which turned into 41 points off turnovers.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Result
“It was good to be back home in Memorial Gym. We obviously still have a lot of work to do. I was really proud of the fact that we had lots of contributions from different players today. Also, it’s been a very long week. We had a lot of travel, and we had a great experience in Paris. I think we’re still a little bit sluggish, but we have a big week ahead. It’s nice to kind of knock off the cobwebs today. We look forward to getting back to tomorrow in practice as we prepare for another game on Wednesday.”
Up Next
The Commodores hit the road for a midweek matchup at Austin Peay on Wednesday. Tipoff against the Governors from F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, Tennessee, is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
Dore Notes
- Vanderbilt has started 2-0 in each of the last four seasons
- The last time the Commodores started 2-0 in consecutive seasons was across a nine-season stretch from 2006-2007 to 2014-2015
- Vandy extends its win streak to seven in home openers, moving to 5-0 under head coach Shea Ralph
- Vanderbilt has scored 96 points or more in three-straight home openers
- The Dores have won 21-straight games against non-conference opponents
- In the Shea Ralph era, the black and gold now own a 51-19 non-conference record, including 34-3 at home in that span
- Monday’s win gives Vanderbilt a 3-0 lead in the all-time series versus Furman
- The 96-48 score is the largest margin of victory over the Paladins in series history
- Vanderbilt’s 28 assists are its most in a game since dishing 30 against Alabama A&M on Dec. 29, 2024
- The 86 rebounds grabbed by the Dores in the last two matchups are their most across a two-game stretch since collecting 92 against West Georgia and Alabama A&M last season
- Vandy forced 28 turnovers against Furman, the most from an opponent since Texas A&M had 30 against the Dores last season
- Sophomore Mikayla Blakes continued her scoring streak of 10 or more points, now at 21 straight games
- Blakes has registered at least 10 points in 34 of her 35 career games at Vanderbilt
- The sophomore has forced three or more turnovers in three straight contests
- Senior Justine Pissott scored 13 points while drilling three from behind the arc, her most points and three pointers in a game since Feb. 27, 2025
- Junior Aiyana Mitchell has scored double-digit points in consecutive games for the first time in her career
- Mitchell shot 100 percent from the field on a minimum of four shot attempts for the first time in her career
- Graduate Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda generated the first double-digit scoring effort of her Vanderbilt career and 19th all-time at the NCAA Division I level
- Mwenentanda set a career high in three-pointers made with two and tied a career best in three-point attempts with three
- Senior Jada Brown produced her first double-digit scoring performance since her freshman season, when she had 10 pts vs. LSU on Feb. 23, 2023
- Freshman Aubrey Galvan finished with the first double-digit point game of her career
- Galvan has dished out at least seven assists in back-to-back games
- Freshmen Ava Black and Monique Williams made their Vanderbilt debuts on Monday
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