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It’s not often you win on the road in the SEC when the home team shoots a blistering 56% from the field, including 50% (10-20) from beyond the arc and dominates you on the boards 39-21. But somehow the Commodores found a way after holding on for an 84-83 win in back-and-forth thriller against Kentucky in Lexington.
As is the case in most games, the biggest reason Vandy managed to win was they had Mikayla Blakes and the other team didn’t. The sophomore took over the game down the stretch, finishing with 37 points – her second highest point total of the season.
“Look at what that kid has done for our program and tell me that there’s a more meaningful player in the country to their team. Tell me. There’s not. She’s changed everything.” Coach Shea Ralph said after the game.
The Commodores also decisively won the turnover battle, scoring 25 points off 20 Kentucky turnovers while Vandy took much better care of the ball with only 6 giveaways for the game.
“At the end of the day, it’s a road win in the SEC. Getting outrebounded the way we did, but also being able to capitalize on their turnovers, is the difference in the game. It was rebounding vs. turnovers” said Ralph.
In a pleasant change from the previous three games, Vandy actually started the first quarter well, leading Kentucky 19-16 after the first frame. But the Wildcats wouldn’t go away and ended the first half with a 13-2 run to take a 38-34 advantage into the break.
The scoring runs for both teams would continue. Vandy scored the first 7 points of the second half to regain the lead 41-38. Kentucky answered with a 9-point run of their own to go up 47-41. A three pointer by Kentucky’s Asia Boone gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game 54-45 with just under three minutes to go in the third quarter.
Still, Vandy didn’t roll over. After battling back to 58-54 at the end of the third, the Commodores would score the first 7 points of the fourth to take the lead 61-58.
Then Blakes put on her Superman cape and made there would be no more Wildcat comebacks this night. Her three-pointer with just over six minutes left in the game gave the Commodores their biggest lead of 10, 72-62. Blakes scored 19 points in the last frame, including four three-pointers.
Freshman Aubrey Galvan was also brilliant, finishing with 16 points and 7 assists. She did not look like a freshman by going 7-7 from the free throw line, including four clutch makes in the final seconds as Vandy was holding on for dear life.
“My freshman point guard had four huge free throws at the end of the game.” Ralph said “She had great ball security and really ran the team in the second half. That made all the difference.”
Sacha Washington followed up her strong performance against Florida with another great game, going a perfect 7-7 from the field to finish with 15 points to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Commodores didn’t scorch the nets quite like Kentucky but still played well offensively shooting 45% from the field, 39% from beyond the arc, and 87% from the free throw line.
The importance of this road win over a top 20 conference foe can’t be overstated considering Vandy has the toughest remaining schedule of any team in the country. Every opponent remaining – including a home rematch with this Kentucky squad – is ranked with the exception of Georgia which sits just outside at #26/#27. Next up in this murderers’ row — a huge matchup in Memorial Gym Monday night against #11 Oklahoma.
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