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No. 19 Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball (1-0) returned to Memorial Gymnasium for its home opener against the Furman Paladins (1-1). The Commodores have not played a game since Nov. 3 when they played California in the Oui-Play Paris Invitational, where they came out with a quality win over a Power Four opponent.
Head coach Shea Ralph rolled out a starting lineup of Mikayla Blakes, Aubrey Galvan, Justine Pissott, Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda and Sacha Washington.
Despite a relatively quiet first quarter, where Blakes did not log a point, the ‘Dores pulled away in the second quarter and did not look back. Ending the game with six different players who had double digit numbers on the night and ultimately walking away with a 96-48 win.
“It was good to be back home in Memorial,” Ralph said. “We obviously still have a lot of work to do. [But] I was really proud of the fact that we had lots of contributions from different players today.”
The Commodores jumped out to an early 4-1 lead on the back of a layup from Washington and a deep three-ball from Pissott, respectively. At the first timeout of the quarter, Vanderbilt led 10-6, the Paladins just two possessions away from evening the score. A made free throw from Furman paired by a string of misses from the Commodores, brought the Paladins within three. However, a layup from Aiyana Mitchell broke Vanderbilt’s scoring drought and extended its lead to five. Pissott extended her total to eight points on back-to-back scoring plays of a 3-pointer and a layup and giving her team a 10-point advantage. Mitchell was then able to get to the free-throw line, making one of the two attempts.
Furman battled back, though, adding three more to their total on an Alyssa Ervin three, bringing her total to 9 of Furman’s 13 points and spelling the end of the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, the Commodores held a 21-13 lead over the Paladins with the team shooting 47.1% from the field and 28.6 from behind the arc. Notably absent from the board was Blake’s, who had failed to score for the entirety of the quarter, albeit only on two attempts.
Blakes quickly got on the board in the second quarter scoring her first basket on a rebound layup off her own miss. Vanderbilt would go on a 6-0 run, with baskets from Blakes (3-pointer) and Pissott (jumper), while just before the run Jada Brown added a three ball of her own. The ‘Dores continued to extend their lead, pulling away from Furman in the second quarter. In the last four minutes of play the ‘Dores forced the Paladins into five turnovers, at the same time they added 13 points to push their lead to 21 points headed into halftime. At the half, the Commodores were shooting the same 47.1% from the field while improvising their 3-point percentage to 35.7%. Leading the ‘Dores in scoring was Pissott who had 10 points at halftime followed closely by Blakes who, despite not having any points in the first quarter, had rebounded with eight in the second.
Vanderbilt picked right up where it left off before halftime going on a 12-5 run over the first four minutes of the third quarter. Both Mwenentanda and Galvan added their first 3-pointers to their game totals while Blakes extended her total to 10 on a layup. Washington also quietly added to her total making a layup and two free throws. After a media timeout, Mwenentanda hit a short jumper in open space, Galvan responded to Furmans subsequent possession with a steal and attempted behind the back pass to Mitchell for a layoff. Mitchell missed the initial shot but partially made up for it by making one of her two free throws. The Commodores ended the third quarter on a 21-5 run over the last 7:11 of play that extended the score to 71-32 in favor of the Commodores. The Black and Gold had four players in double digits — Blakes, Pissott, Mwenentanda and Mitchell.
Furman would not give up in the fourth quarter, Ervin made her fourth 3-pointer of the night, extending her game total to 16 and accounting for 35% of the Paladins 45 points. Making an impact in the post was LSU transfer Aaliyah Del Rosario, who logged five points in the first half of the quarter. The Commodores ended their game shooting 56.1% from the field while steadily improving their 3-point percentage throughout the game to end with 40% shooting from behind the arc.
Vanderbilt will have a quick turnaround to its next game when it travels to Clarksville, Tennessee to play Austin Peay at 6 p.m. CST.
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