The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team put together back-to-back statement wins in the past week. The Commodores took down Kentucky on the road on Thursday and defeated Oklahoma Monday by double figures at home, scoring north of 100 points for the second time this season.
Off of those victories, Vanderbilt climbed three spots in USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll to No. 5. Coach Shae Ralph’s Commodores have been ranked as high as fourth this season.
Sophomore Mikayla Blakes and freshman Aubrey Galvan led Vanderbilt in both wins. Blakes scored 37 points at Kentucky and 34 points against Oklahoma and racked up a combined 10 assists in the pair of wins. Meanwhile, Galvan had 16 points and seven assists against the Wildcats and a season-best 30 points over the Sooners.
Blakes is making a case for first-team All-American, and Galvan is emerging as a contender for Freshman of the Year. Blakes is now the nation’s leading scorer at 25.9 points per game and Galvan is the only player in the nation averaging at least 12 points, six assists, three rebounds and 2.5 steals per game while shooting better than 30% from 3-point land.
Vanderbilt plays another ranked opponent Thursday, hosting No. 4 Texas.
Undefeated UConn remained No. 1, picking all 31 first-place votes. UCLA, South Carolina and Texas stayed at 2, 3 and 4, respectively.
Elsewhere in the poll, Duke was the biggest riser, moving up seven spots to No. 15. Kara Lawson’s Blue Devils are riding a 15-game winning streak after notching victories over Louisville and SMU in the last week. They face No. 21 North Carolina on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, ABC).
Lawson’s alma mater, Tennessee, fell the furthest in the poll, dropping five spots to No. 22 after a 43-point loss to South Carolina — the largest margin of defeat in program history for the Lady Vols.
Iowa State reentered the poll at No. 25 after its fifth consecutive victory, while Washington dropped out.
Two Atlantic-10 teams received votes in this week’s poll, with Rhode Island grabbing 10 votes and Richmond picking up one.
