After two rare losses to South Carolina and Ole Miss, Vanderbilt quickly played its way back into the win column. The Commodores beat Florida and Kentucky. The first was a decisive 82-66 win, but the latter was a battle until the very end. Vanderbilt preserved and secured the 84-83 win.
The last two games also marked a big turnaround for junior guard Aga Makurat. She played more than seven minutes for the first time since late December, logging 22 minutes against Florida and 16 against Kentucky. The last time Vanderbilt faced a ranked opponent, Makurat played only five minutes.
The reason for Makurat’s increased minutes these past two games is simple: she is becoming a better rebounder and defender.
“She’s on the Polish national team,” head coach Shea Ralph said about Makurat after the win against Kentucky. “This kid can play. And I think the biggest thing for me is, when we have…guards that are 6’2”, 6’3”, 6’4”, they’ve got to rebound and defend. I love that we can make shots. I love that you can score, but I need you to rebound and defend…Aga continues to get better at it in practice, which is why you’re seeing her play a lot of big minutes.”
Makurat’s calling card is still scoring
Listed at 6’3”, Makurat brings a lot of size on the perimeter. She also brings great 3-point shooting. Makurat has taken 67 shots this season. 47 of those shots have come from three, and she has made 21 so far, which comes out to 44.7%—the best mark on Vanderbilt’s roster outside of Monique Williams who took and made one 3-pointer this season.
That 3-point shooting has led to some great scoring games from Makurat. Early in the season, she scored 21 points on 5-11 shooting from three against Alabama State, for example.
3-point shooting was also how Makurat put her name on the stat sheet against Kentucky. She went 2-4 from three on her way to eight points. She also recorded one steal. Makurat was Vanderbilt’s only source of scoring off the bench. Aiyana Mitchell, Ava Black, and Jada Brown all went scoreless. The starters more than made up for that lack of scoring off the bench with 37 points from star guard Mikayla Blakes, 16 points from Aubrey Galvan, and 15 points from Sacha Washington.
Five of Vanderbilt’s last six regular-season games are against ranked opponents, giving Makurat ample opportunity to solidify her standing as a 3-point threat and work on her defense and rebounding. She didn’t grab any rebounds against Kentucky.