No. 5 Vanderbilt erases a 14-point deficit, but falls at Georgia 76-74 on Sunday
ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 5/5-ranked Vanderbilt women’s basketball team fought back from a double-digit deficit in the first half, but the Commodores couldn’t get their last shot to fall to extend the game, as Vandy dropped a 76-74 decision at Stegeman Coliseum on Sunday.
The Commodores trailed Georgia by as many as 14 points in the first half. Vanderbilt cut its deficit to 39-36 at halftime and pulled even with the Lady Bulldogs going into the fourth quarter, as the game was knotted up at 56-all. Vandy opened the fourth quarter with five-straight points to take a 61-56 advantage with 8:47 left to play. Georgia closed the gap and used a 10-4 run to close out the game. The Dores had a chance to send the game to overtime, but their shot as time expired hit the back rim to give UGA a two-point victory.
The loss breaks Vanderbilt’s four-game winning streak, as the No. 5/5-ranked Dores fall to 24-3 overall this season and 10-3 in SEC games.
Sophomore Mikayla Blakes recorded her fifth-straight game with 25-plus points, as the guard registered 27 points on only eight shots taken. The Somerset, New Jersey, went 19-of-20 from the charity stripe, as her 19 made free throws are the second-most in a game in school history. Blakes also extends her double-digit scoring streak to 46 games, which is the longest active streak in the SEC, and third-longest in NCAA Division I.
Senior Justine Pissott registered 23 points at Georgia on Sunday. It marks the most points that Pissott has scored in an SEC contest in her career. The 6-4 guard went 5-of-8 from behind the free throw line. Blakes and Pissott’s 20-point performance at Georgia marks the fourth time this season that Vanderbilt had two player scored 20-plus in a game.
Vanderbilt shot 37.1 percent from the floor, while Georgia held a 56.0 percent success rate from the field on Sunday. The Dores forced UGA into 19 turnovers, which turned into an 18-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Result
“Credit to Georgia. I thought they played a really good game today. But that’s not something that we haven’t seen before. So, I think we did miss a bunch of open shots early. Those shots have been falling for us lately. And so, if you do that and you’re not able to get stops. I think they had 27 points in the 1st quarter, that can’t happen. Neither of those things can happen. We know this because we’ve been here before. As much as I want to give the other team credit, I just think that for us, we didn’t play our best basketball today.
“I am really proud that we fought our way out of the hole early on. And, you know, this team hasn’t been here before, and I think when I look at the way that they fought today, the opportunities that we had that we weren’t able to take advantage of when I look at the week that we just had. I think about the preparation, I could have done a better job. preparing them today. When I look at the way that we play today, I think that we’ll go back and learn a little bit about how we play leading up to when we have game after game after game this late in the season. We have some big wins. What that looks like for our team and how we need to respond a little better.”
Up Next
The No. 5/5 Commodores return to Memorial Gymnasium for the final homestand of the 2025-26 regular season. Vanderbilt hosts No. 18/19-ranked Kentucky on Sunday, Feb. 22. Tipoff against the Wildcats is set for 2 p.m. CT and streams live on SEC Network+.
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