Vanderbilt

[PhilipVU94]

Congrats to Mikayla. If you're reading this thread you likely already know about her 53 points tonight at Florida -- SEC record and national freshman record (record just under a year old, in fact).

Also a nice win against an opponent that has given us trouble at times. Way to go, Dores!

 

[RoadMaster]

Swipe..

 

[YoDore]

Coach Ralph and Mikayla Blakes after Florida game where Blakes set an SEC record and broke the NCAA freshman single-game scoring record with 53 points. JuJu Watkins had the record with a 51-point performance last season.

 

[Dillon77]

Swipe..

Wow.
As a resident of Northern NJ, I knew Blakes was good and for awhile, there was some mutual interest between Ms. Blakes and Notre Dame, my educational and rooting interest. However, she chose Vandy, which certainly one had to respect for all kinds of reasons, athletic and academic.

I knew she was good, but recently she's morphed into a dominating guard. Way to go. Will be interesting in how she matches up against very physical and defensive Ole Miss team.

 

[YoDore]

Sports Illustrated has a nice feature on Mikayla Blakes.

SI:AM | Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes Sets True Freshman Scoring Record

Move over, JuJu Watkins.

www.si.com

 

[Blakeon18]

Mikayla just a frosh!

Season so far:

Points per game: 22.4
Rebounds per game 3.1
.Assists per game: 3.1
Field goal percentage 46.9

We have a pretty fair frosh at UConn...wonder who wins the award of Best Frosh of the
Year?

I wonder if either one [or both] gets on first team AA?

Sarah has better talent surrounding her...that might explain the higher ppg for Mikayla...then again
it also might mean Vandy's opponents first focus on defense is Blakes.

 

[cancontent]

Mikayla just a frosh!

Season so far:

Points per game: 22.4
Rebounds per game 3.1
.Assists per game: 3.1
Field goal percentage 46.9

We have a pretty fair frosh at UConn...wonder who wins the award of Best Frosh of the
Year?

I wonder if either one [or both] gets on first team AA?

Sarah has better talent surrounding her...that might explain the higher ppg for Mikayla...then again
it also might mean Vandy's opponents first focus on defense is Blakes.

Great points and questions. To me, they're both thriving in great situations which bodes well, not only for both teams but the NCAA as a whole. The more storylines to follow, the better for the game.

 

[YoDore]

Mikayla just a frosh!

Season so far:

Points per game: 22.4
Rebounds per game 3.1
.Assists per game: 3.1
Field goal percentage 46.9

We have a pretty fair frosh at UConn...wonder who wins the award of Best Frosh of the
Year?

I wonder if either one [or both] gets on first team AA?

Sarah has better talent surrounding her...that might explain the higher ppg for Mikayla...then again
it also might mean Vandy's opponents first focus on defense is Blakes.

Teams are getting very physical with her. Mark Schindler, the host of "They've Got Now," said on a recent podcast that Mikayla is getting thrown around like a rag doll, but she just bounces up and keeps going. She took a beating at Florida Thursday night, and it was not dirty play. Just physical. I expect her to get mugged at every turn Sunday against Ole Miss, but it doesn't seem to bother her all that much so far. She scored 19 against Ole miss in Oxford on 8 of 16 shooting and had five rebounds. She needs Iyana Moore to step up and take some pressure off and for Khamil Pierre to break out of a two-game slump.

 

[YoDore]

Ole Miss 76 Vanderbilt 61

Assistant coach Ashley Earley pretty well summed it up after the game on the radio:

“Hats off to Ole Miss. They seem to have our number. Every time we play them, they out-hustle us. They are the tougher team.”

On a positive note, Khamil Pierre, who had been struggling the past couple games, bounced back with 24 points and 7 rebounds. But, Mikayla Blakes picked up two early fouls and sat out part of the first period then picked up her third foul two minutes into the second quarter and sat out the rest of the half. She wound up with 16, almost all in the second half, but Ole Miss was in control the final three periods.

 

[YoDore]

Mikayla Blakes has been named the United States Basketball Writer's Association (USBWA) Freshman of the Week for the third straight week after her record-breaking, 53-point performance at Florida.