Women’s Basketball: Vanderbilt downs High Point in Round of 64, 102-61 – The Vanderbilt Hustler

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No. 2-seeded Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball (28-4, 13-3 SEC) hosted No. 15 High Point (27-5, 12-3 Big South Conference) in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64 March 21. Before this game, the Commodores had not played a contest in nearly two weeks after suffering an early exit in the SEC Tournament at the hands of Ole Miss.  
From the tip, Vanderbilt jumped out to a quick lead and didn’t look back. Mikayla Blakes and Aubrey Galvan were, once again, impressive, accounting for 47 points and 13 assists combined. Sacha Washington also led the ‘Dores on the glass with 17 rebounds. Although Macy Spencer, a junior guard for High Point, kept her team afloat in the game with 22 of their 32 first-half points, she cooled off in the second half, and Vanderbilt pulled ahead. Ultimately, the Black and Gold walked away with a 102-61 win to advance to the Round of 32 on Monday.
Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph went with the same starting lineup she had all season: Blakes, Galvan, Justine Pissott, Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda and Washington. The Commodores won the opening tip and quickly went to work. Galvan dished a pass to Blakes, and she made her first 3-point shot of the night. They quickly added another three points on the board when Pissott hit a triple of her own. On the ensuing offensive possession from High Point, Vanderbilt conceded a layup, but it quickly got those points back when, seconds later, Mwenentanda got a layup of her own.  
Vanderbilt then started running a trap with Pissott and Galvan and adding pressure to High Point’s guards, resulting in a missed pass from the Panthers and a forced turnover for the ‘Dores. The Commodores capitalized, giving them a 12-2 lead. Another 3-pointer from Blakes would extend Vanderbilt’s lead to 15 at the first media timeout of the quarter. After the break, High Point broke its scoring drought with a 3-pointer of its own from Spencer. The junior guard for the Panthers then got two more 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, while forcing a Vanderbilt turnover in between to pull her team back within single digits (11-20) at the next media timeout.   
After the second break, the Black and Gold picked up on the momentum it found in the first five minutes of the quarter: Blakes added two more buckets to bring her total to 11 points in the game and Aiyana Mitchell came off the bench to force a turnover. Vanderbilt’s high press continued to work in its favor, with it forcing two turnovers over the last minute and adding four points. At the conclusion of the first quarter, the Commodores held a comfortable 30-13 lead over the Panthers.  
Spencer continued to add onto her already impressive night for the Panthers in the second quarter, hitting an elbow jumper to extend her total to 13 points with eight minutes remaining in the half. However, Vanderbilt continued to add to its lead. From the bench, Aga Makurat came in and hit a 3-pointer — the Commodores’ third of the evening. Freshman Ava Black also added two points of her own off a steal from Galvan. Spencer responded with a pair of 3-pointers, accounting for 22 of the Panthers 25 points at the time. At the media timeout with just under three minutes remaining in the half, Vanderbilt held a 50-27 advantage over High Point. The second period came to an end on a pair of free throws from Mwenentanda to put the ‘Dores ahead 54-32. 
Vanderbilt started the third quarter by adding a quick 10 points in just under three minutes of play. Blakes then extended their lead to 30 points on a 3-pointer, bringing her tally to 28 points. The Commodores scoring run continued, where it went on a 13-2 run over four minutes, and a 7-0 run that was broken by a layup from Chana Paxixe. Galvan came out of the game for some rest with 15 seconds remaining in the quarter, eliciting loud cheers and rounds of applause from the Commodore Faithful — she had the second most points with 17 thus far in the game. Although Spencer started the quarter off hot with another big three, she was largely absent from the stat line after her 22-point first half.  
Vanderbilt added a quick 13 points to its score in just over the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, three of which came on a triple from Pissott and prompted a large chorus of cheers in Memorial. Collins added four points for High Point, each on layups, but the ‘Dores bench continued to pile it on. Blak added five points on a jumper and a 3-pointer, bringing her total to nine. The freshman then brought her tally to double digits on a steal that transitioned into an and-one layup. It then brought its score to the century mark on a free throw from sophomore Trinity Wilson. 
Next for Vanderbilt will be the Round of 32, which will mark its final game in Memorial Gymnasium this season. The ‘Dores will face off against the winner of Illinois/Colorado on March 23 at 6 p.m. CDT. 
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