Mikayla Blakes and the second-seeded Vanderbilt women’s basketball team opens their NCAA Tournament slate with a first-round game against 15th seed High Point Panthers on March 21. The Commodores finished third in the SEC and own a 27-4 record entering March Madness.
Here is what you need to know about Blakes.
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Mikayla Blakes is the fastest player in Vanderbilt history to reach 1,000 career points, hitting the milestone in 42 games. The record highlights how quickly she established herself as a central piece of the Commodores’ offense.Her record-setting performances point to one defining trait: composure. Blakes has shown she is comfortable taking the final shot. In close games, Vanderbilt often clears a side and lets her take control. Blakes can finish in transition, create off the dribble and make perimeter shots. Whether the game speeds up or slows up, she continues to produce.
Blakes’ older brother, Jaylen Blakes, played at Duke before transferring to Stanford for his last season in 2024-25. He plays professionally with Hapoel Galil Elyon in Israel. The two pushed each other from an early age, often turning workouts and pickup games into daily competition. Practicing against her brother required physicality and quick decisions, traits that show in her ability to handle defensive pressure at Vanderbilt. The siblings credit each other for sharpening their basketball IQ and work ethic and including a stretch during the 2024-25 season when they hit game-winning shots on consecutive days while playing at Vanderbilt and Stanford.
Before her sophomore surge, Blakes delivered one of the most prolific scoring performances in Division I history. She set the NCAA freshman single-game scoring record with 55 points in an overtime win against Auburn last season, a breakout moment that immediately placed her into the national spotlight.The performance came in SEC play and stretched into overtime. Even as defensive pressure increased, Blakes continued to score, showing the kind of composure rarely seen from a freshman.Her freshman resumé extended well beyond that night. She earned SEC Freshman of the Year and first-team All-SEC honors and was named USBWA National Freshman of the Year.
Blakes’ ascent has earned her placement on multiple national Player of the Year watch lists, including the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy lists. Vanderbilt has never had a Naismith Trophy winner. Only a small number of sophomores have won the award in the past decade and placing Blakes in rare company if she were to earn the honor.
Lily Grace Kilgore contributed to this story
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