Shea Ralph is going to go head-to-head with her college coach, Geno Auriemma.
Ralph — a former Big East Player of the Year, national champion, All-American and then assistant coach at UConn — has been the head coach at Vanderbilt for five years. Within the next few seasons, her Commodores will face off against the Huskies twice.
UConn and Vanderbilt announced a two-year deal for a home-and-home series in women’s basketball on Wednesday. The Commodores will visit Storrs, Connecticut, in the 2027-28 season, and then the Huskies will travel to Nashville, Tennessee, in 2028-29.
Ralph and Auriemma have never coached against each other. UConn is 6-2 all-time against Vanderbilt, with the last meeting coming in 2020 — a 64-51 win for the Huskies — when Stephanie White was the head coach of the Commodores.
This season, UConn and Vanderbilt are the lone remaining undefeated teams in the sport.
Led by stellar sophomore guard Mikayla Blakes, the Commodores are off to their best start in program history with a 19-0 record. It’s also the first time since the 2008-09 campaign that Vandy has beaten multiple top-10-ranked opponents in the same season. Vandy is also on pace to secure a top 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007.
The reigning national champs, UConn is also 19-0 after beating rival Notre Dame on Monday. The Huskies have been powered by sophomore forward Sarah Strong and senior guard Azzi Fudd. The 2027-28 matchup between the Huskies and Commodores would be the senior campaigns for Strong and Blakes, who split last season’s National Freshman of the Year awards — Blakes got the honor from the USBWA, while the WBCA recognized Strong.
For Ralph, the 2027-28 matchup will also be a homecoming of sorts. She was the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four for the Huskies in 2000 when she guided them to a national championship, and then helped UConn win six more titles as an assistant coach from 2008 through 2021.
Ralph and Strong also share something in common: They are the last two players from North Carolina to be named the National High School Player of the Year — Ralph in 1996 and Strong in 2024 — and they both chose to sign with UConn.
