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Vanderbilt women’s basketball put an exclamation mark on their regular season Sunday afternoon in Knoxville, beating in-state rival Tennessee 87-77.
It was not an easy win, however. Tennessee looked good and played well the entirety of the first half. Vanderbilt was having trouble defensively handling Tennessee and trailed by six points going into halftime.
But in the second half, it was just about all Vanderbilt. The Commodores turned the tide immediately in the third quarter, out-scoring the Volunteers 30-15 in the frame and taking a nine-point lead into the final 10 minutes. In the final quarter, Vanderbilt maintained its defensive intensity and did not allow Tennessee to get back into the game.
It was Vanderbilt star guard and National Player of the Year candidate Mikayla Blakes who once again led the team in scoring with 34 points. Freshman guard Aubrey Galvan scored 24 in the winning effort.
For Vanderbilt, it was the Commodores 27th win, which sets the program record for the most wins in a season. With SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament games still yet to play, Vanderbilt is poised to continue to shatter the program record.
The win also marks the 100th victory for head coach Shea Ralph during her tenure in Nashville as she has her team at a 27-3 record going into the SEC Tournament. Vanderbilt will be the No. 2 seed in the tournament and earned a double-bye because of it.
“I love my team. I’m having such a fun time this year. I don’t remember the last time I’ve had this much fun coaching. They are a really good basketball team, obviously. They’re coachable, but I feel like every time we come to play a game, whether we’re home or away, no matter the circumstances, we learn something, we grow, and we figure out a way to win,” Ralph said after the game. “The times we haven’t, we’ve grown from. They’re a resilient bunch. They’re relentless in all the things I ask them to do that I can’t coach.”
187 days
Vanderbilt baseball lost to Oregon 6-4.
No. 5 Vanderbilt women’s basketball beat Tennessee 87-77.
Vanderbilt men’s tennis beat No. 14 Texas A&M 4-3.
Vanderbilt women’s tennis lost to No. 16 Texas 5-2.
Vanderbilt men’s golf at the Cabo Collegiate (Cabo San Lucas, Mexico), Day 2 at 9:30 a.m. CT.
Vanderbilt women’s golf at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, Day 1.
Vanderbilt G Mikayla Blakes today
⚫️ 34 PTS
⚫️ 6 REB
⚫️ 4 AST
⚫️ 2 STL
⚫️ 6-9 3PT
pic.twitter.com/nRJJsOfZf7
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.
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