Vanderbilt (0-0, 0-0 SEC) vs. California (0-0, 0-0 ACC)
Monday, Nov. 3, 2025 • 1:30 p.m. CT
Adidas Arena • Paris, France • ESPNU
94.9 The Fan • Vanderbilt Athletics App • Live Stats • Game Notes
PARIS – The No. 19/21-ranked Vanderbilt women’s basketball team opens the 2025-26 season in the City of Lights, as the Commodores travel across the Atlantic Ocean to Paris, France, to battle California in Oui-Play Paris 2025 on Monday. Tipoff from the Adidas Arena is set for 1:30 p.m. CT and airs live on ESPNU.
Starting Five
>> The 2025-26 season marks Year 5 under the direction of head coach Shea Ralph for the Commodores. Vanderbilt has made a March Madness appearance in each of the last two seasons, marking the first time since the program earned 15-straight NCAA Tournament bids from 1999-2014. The Dores are 73-59 in the Ralph era, as Vandy has posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns over the last two seasons. It is the first time Vanderbilt has had consecutive 20-win campaigns since a streak of 14-straight seasons from 1999-00 to 2012-13.
>> All-American Mikayla Blakes is back in the Black and Gold after a record-setting rookie campaign with the Commodores in 2024-25. The Somerset, New Jersey, native was named the USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year last season and was selected as the SEC Freshman of the Year by the league’s coaches and the SEC Newcomer of the Year by USA Today. Blakes is the highest-scoring player returning in the SEC this season, as she averaged 23.3 points per game a season ago. The guard was a preseason first-team All-SEC selection by both the coaches and media and was named to The Athletic preseason All-America first team.
>> Vanderbilt defeated Memphis, 104-68, last Monday, Oct. 27, in exhibition action for the 2025 Hoops for St. Jude® Tip Off Classic at the FedExForum. Sophomore Mikayla Blakes had 40 points against the Tigers, marking the most points scored by a player in the FedExForum since Steph Curry’s 52-point effort for Golden State on April 1, 2025. Graduate student Sacha Washington recorded a double-double in her unofficial return to action after missing last season due to a medical condition, as she recorded 22 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Justine Pissott also registered a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.
>> Oui-Play Paris 2025 marks the first time that Vanderbilt will play an official NCAA Division I basketball game on another continent. France is the third country outside of the United States that the Commodores have played an official game in program history, joining the Bahamas (2019-20) and Mexico (2022-23). Vandy is seeking its first win outside of the United States, as the Dores are 0-4 all-time in international contests against NCAA Division I teams. It is the second time that Shea Ralph will guide the Commodores on an European excursion, as the Dores went on a two-week venture through Italy during the summer of 2023 and won both games they played against local teams.
>> Vanderbilt and California will meet for the fifth time, with the all-time series tied at two wins each. The Golden Bears were victorious 67-59 in the last meeting on Dec. 2, 2007, in the Contra Costa Times Classic on the UC Berkeley campus. This year’s matchup is the first neutral-site contest between the two schools. Both teams participated in the 2024 Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs, California, last season, although they did not play each other.
Game Coverage
Monday’s contest in Oui-Play Paris 2025 airs live at 1:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU and the ESPN app. Beth Mowins and Vanderbilt alumna Carolyn Peck will be on the call. Fans can listen to Jake Lyman locally on 94.9 The Fan and the Vanderbilt Commodores app outside of Nashville.
Oui-Play Paris 2025
It is the third edition of the Oui-Play Paris event, developed and managed by Complete Sports Management. Vanderbilt takes on California on Nov. 3 in Paris at 1:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU in Game 2 of a doubleheader at the Adidas Arena. The first contest features No. 7/6 Duke and No. 16/18 Baylor at 11 a.m. CT.
TV Ready
Monday’s game on ESPNU marks the second of 12 nationally televised games for the Dores in 2025-26. The Oui-Play Paris 2025 contest against California is the second of three straight national TV games to open the season for Vanderbilt. The Dores took on Memphis on ESPNU for the 2025 Hoops for St. Jude® Tip Off Classic last Monday, while the home opener on Nov. 10 against Furman in Memorial Gymnasium airs on SEC Network.
Vanderbilt plays on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNU a total of six times and will have five games on SEC Network in 2025-26. The Dores play once on FOX for the Coretta Scott King Classic on Jan. 19.
National Rankings
Vanderbilt opens the 2025-26 season ranked inside both major women’s basketball polls. The Dores checked in at No. 19 in the preseason Associated Press top 25, while the USA Today coaches poll had Vandy at No. 21. It is the first time since 2012-13 that Vanderbilt will enter a new season nationally ranked.
SEC Projections
Expectations are high for the Commodores coming into the 2025-26 season, as the Commodores had their highest placement in the preseason SEC polls under Shea Ralph. Vanderbilt was selected to finish seventh in the preseason SEC media poll, while the league’s coaches projected an eighth-place finish for the Dores. Vanderbilt has posted back-to-back non-losing campaigns in SEC play, winning a total of 17 conference games over the last two seasons.
Sophomore Mikayla Blakes earned preseason first-team All-SEC honors from both the coaches and media. The guard is the top returning scorer in the SEC this season, as she averaged 23.3 points per game as a freshman a season ago.
Long Way to Go, Short Time to Get There
Vanderbilt is in the midst of a long excursion to open the 2025-26 season. The Commodores are in the middle of a 10-day stretch where they’ll travel roughly 9,458 miles.
The Commodores open the season playing in a pair of premier women’s basketball events. Vandy defeated Memphis, 104-68, in an exhibition game at the FedExForum for the 2025 Hoops for St. Jude® Tip Off Classic. After making the 424-mile round-trip to Memphis, the Dores will then travel roughly 9,000 miles round-trip to the City of Lights. The Dores have been in Paris, France, since Oct. 29 to prepare for Oui-Play Paris 2025 against California on Nov. 3.
Trio of Dores Honored
Vanderbilt had three players selected to a preseason watchlist for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Starting 5 Awards. Graduate Sacha Washington was named to the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year Award, while sophomore Mikayla Blakes was selected to the Ann Meyers-Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award and junior Aalyah Del Rosario earned a spot on the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Award.
Scouting the Golden Bears
California is in Year 7 under the direction of head coach Charmin Smith. The Golden Bears had their best season in the Smith era in 2024-25, as Cal went 25-9 and earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018-19. California is playing in its second season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Golden Bears went 12-6 in their first season in the ACC after spending over a century in the Pac-12 Conference, and spent eight weeks in the Associated Press Top 25 last year.
Junior Lulu Twidale is the team’s lone returning starter from last season’s squad. The 5-10 sharpshooter averaged 13.2 points per game and hit 94 3-point field goals, which is the second-most in a single season in school history. Twidale recently joined Mikayla Blakes on the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award preseason watchlist.
Graduate transfer Sakima Walker headlines a trio of NCAA Division I transfers for the Golden Bears, as the 6-5 center comes from South Carolina and was named to the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Award preseason watchlist. Cal brings in its second-consecutive top-25 signing class, according to HoopGurlz/espnW. California signed Aliyahna Morris, the No. 24-ranked player in the Class of 2025, and she is the first McDonald’s All-American the program has brought in since Kristine Anigwe in 2015.
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