Vanderbilt women’s basketball escaped Lexington, Kentucky with a 84-84 win Thursday night over the Wildcats.
The first half of the game was really tight as Vanderbilt took a 19-16 lead into the second quarter before Kentucky outscored the Commodores by seven points in the final 10 minutes before halftime.
Kentucky continued its run coming out of the gates in the third quarter. The Wildcats grabbed a 54-45 lead with a little under three minutes in the quarter before Vanderbilt went on an extended 27-8 run to flip the script and take a 10-point lead.
But Kentucky was not done. The Wildcats continued the scoring run theme with a 8-0 run of its own to cut the Vanderbilt lead to just 72-70. But in the end, it was Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes that helped seal the deal for Vanderbilt. Blakes finished the game with 37 points, but scored 19 of them in the fourth quarter to survive with a win.
Blakes shot 13-for-25 in the game and hit six of her nine three-pointers. Aubrey Galvan was also a bright spot for the Vanderbilt backcourt as she scored 16 points and assisted on seven field goals. And it was Sacha Washington in the post for the Commodores that made an impact. Washington scored 15 points on a perfect 7-for-7 night from the floor in addition to grabbing four rebounds.
With the win, Vanderbilt moves to 22-2 and have now started a new winning streak of two straight wins after back-to-back losses to South Carolina and Ole Miss. But the Commodores gauntlet is not done yet. They return to Memorial Monday night for a matchup with No. 11 Oklahoma at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
7 days
No. 7 Vanderbilt women’s basketball beat No. 16 Kentucky 84-83.
Vanderbilt swimming at the Louisville Invitational.
Vanderbilt women’s tennis vs. No. 2 Texas A&M at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Vanderbilt bowling at the Storm Flyer Classic (Chicago, Illinois), 10:25 a.m. CT.
Meet the VandyBoys and get autographs from the moment gates open until tipoff! ✍️
🎟️: https://t.co/vKuEB9VbLP pic.twitter.com/khoaBCNFJ0
Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
© 2026 ABG-SI LLC – SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ABG-SI LLC. – All Rights Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates, licensees and related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER.
