Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda buried a three-pointer as the first quarter buzzer sounded Thursday night, capping a 7-0 Vanderbilt run and giving her former coach Vic Schaefer something to think about. The shot extended the Commodores’ lead to 12, and by the time the final horn sounded at Memorial Gymnasium, No. 5 Vanderbilt had demolished No. 4 Texas, 86-70.
Mwenentanda finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals against the program where she spent three seasons. She started, she contributed, she competed. Everything she came to Nashville searching for when she entered the portal last April.
Schaefer Left With No Answers
The transfer portal works both ways. Sometimes you lose a player you needed, and sometimes that player comes back to beat you. Schaefer experienced the latter in painful fashion.
Just nine months ago, the Texas coach told reporters at the SEC spring meetings that he didn’t know why Mwenentanda wanted to leave. She had started 15 games during her junior year, including the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, and Final Four. She scored a career-high 19 points against Illinois in the NCAA Tournament’s second round. The rotation spot was there.
But Mwenentanda wanted more. A larger role. A fresh start with a program on the rise.
She found it in Nashville, joining Shea Ralph’s squad as a graduate transfer and slotting into the starting lineup from day one. Against her former team, she played with what observers described as extra energy, forcing two jump balls in the third quarter that swung possessions Vanderbilt’s way.
Schaefer, meanwhile, had plenty to say after the game. None of it was pleasant.
His postgame press conference became appointment viewing, with the veteran coach unloading on his own team in terms rarely heard from a coach at a top-five program. He called his players soft. He questioned their effort. He accepted blame while simultaneously torching the roster’s collective will.
“We have no heart. We’re not tough,” Schaefer told reporters. “It’s probably the softest team I’ve had in years.”
Texas trailed by as many as 26 points before mounting a fourth-quarter rally that ultimately meant nothing. The Longhorns never got closer than 11 in the final period.
For Mwenentanda, the evening provided vindication. For Schaefer, it prompted soul-searching of the most public variety.
Transfer Portal Storyline Adds Context to Blowout
The story writes itself in the era of unrestricted player movement. A player leaves a program. That player faces the old program. That player makes the old program pay.
Mwenentanda wasn’t Vanderbilt’s leading scorer Thursday. That honor belonged to national scoring leader Mikayla Blakes, who went off for 34 points on 9-of-19 shooting while living at the free-throw line. Aubrey Galvan added 18 points and 8 rebounds. The Commodores had balance throughout.
But the revenge angle gave the blowout its narrative hook. The 6-foot-2 guard from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, came to Austin as a four-star recruit in 2022, a McDonald’s All-American nominee, and the South Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year. She contributed for three years without ever becoming a featured player. When the opportunity arose to join a Vanderbilt team built around one of the sport’s most dominant scorers, she took it.
Now 24-2 and firmly in the SEC title race, Vanderbilt has won four straight. Ralph’s program has become a destination, not a stepping stone. Mwenentanda is part of that.
Schaefer’s comments about NIL and modern player expectations added another layer to the postgame drama. He lamented that “effort, energy, focus used to come with a scholarship” but now “comes with hundreds of thousands of dollars.” Whether that was a direct shot at Mwenentanda or a broader commentary on college athletics, the timing felt pointed.
The Longhorns will practice before traveling to Knoxville for a Sunday matchup with Tennessee. Schaefer made clear the soul-searching starts immediately.
“I’ll wear it. I’ll wear all of it. It’s my fault. It stops now,” he said.
Mwenentanda already brought hers to Nashville. Thursday night, she used it against the coach who once didn’t know why she wanted to leave.