Shea Ralph and her Vanderbilt Commodores are thriving. They still haven’t lost a game, Mikayla Blakes is a top-three scorer in the country, and Aubrey Galvan leads all freshmen in assists per game with 6.5. Blakes already established herself as one of the top players in college basketball as a freshman and during her stint with USA Basketball in the summer. Galvan is new to the college game and the SEC—a league many recruiters didn’t think she could compete in because of her size.
Shea Ralph recruited the 5’6” guard anyway and doesn’t regret her decision. In fact, she is certain that Galvan is on track to prove all of her doubters wrong.
“She’s just a kid that loves to play,” Ralph said about Galvan during a weekly press conference on January 13. “She studies the game, and you’re seeing how much confidence she has in herself, too, and how much confidence our team has in her. I mean, everybody told her she was too small to play in this league. She’s playing with a vendetta out there. Recruiting, that was like the thing: She’s too small. She’s too small to play in the SEC. She’s not strong enough. But I think people are quickly finding out that that’s not true, and we knew that when we brought her here.”
Aubrey Galvan is putting together a strong freshman season
Galvan is one of three freshmen on Vanderbilt’s roster. The other two are Monique Williams and Ava Black. Galvan has the biggest role out of the three—and a big role on the team in general. She leads Vanderbilt in minutes and assists per game. She is also the team’s third-leading scorer and currently ranks second in total field goal attempts behind Mikayla Blakes.
Averaging 11.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 3.2 steals, Galvan is in the middle of a very productive first season. SEC play also hasn’t really fazed her.
She opened conference play with 14 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals in a win over Arkansas. Then, she recorded 14 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals in a huge statement win against LSU. Galvan followed that up with a 19-point performance during which she also recorded four assists and five steals against the Missouri Tigers. Last but not least, she recorded 12 points, 7 assists, and 4 steals against Texas A&M.
Despite overall great performances, her youth and inexperience still show at times. For one, Galvan hasn’t been the most efficient scorer in her first season at Vanderbilt. Over her first 17 games, she only shot 38.5% from the field and 33% from three. She also still turns the ball over quite a lot—which is definitely not unusual for a freshman stepping into the starting point guard role.