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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
Stephanie Kaloi

‘Everyone in Nashville is a Vandy fan’: how Shea Ralph sparked a women’s basketball revival in Music City

Shea Ralph coaches during a December game.
Shea Ralph led Vanderbilt to their best season in years and a No 2 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Photograph: Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images

Shea Ralph’s decision to storm the court during the fourth quarter of Vanderbilt’s quarter-final against Ole Miss last Friday at the SEC Tournament wasn’t premeditated. Ralph, who up to that moment had never been thrown out of a game in her lengthy career, just did what she thought was right in arguing a questionable foul call.

“I wasn’t trying to get kicked out,” Ralph told reporters after the game. “I know where I was on the court. But I also think that at that time what I said was warranted, and the action I took was warranted. And I’ll stand behind that. You want to kick me out for it, they can kick me out.”

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