ATLANTA – Vanderbilt women’s basketball All-American Mikayla Blakes has been named to the 2025-26 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year Late Season Team, the organization announced on Tuesday.
It is the second-straight season that Blakes has been named to the late midseason team for the Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year, which recognizes the most outstanding player in college basketball. It is the third national player of the year watch list that Blakes has been named to within the past month, as she was also included on the Wooden Award late midseason top 20 watch list and the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year watch list.
The six-time All-American picked up where she left off after a historic freshman season at Vanderbilt. The 2024-25 USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year leads the country in scoring, as Blakes is putting 26.3 points per game this season. The guard has scored 30-plus points in an NCAA-leading nine contests, while she has eclipsed the 25-point plateau in 16 games. Blakes is one of two players in NCAA Division I this season to rank inside the top 10 nationally in scoring (1st; 26.3 ppg) and steals per game (19th; 2.96).
Blakes has twice been named AP National Player of the Week in 2025-26 and was the Naismith Trophy National Player of the Week earlier this season. The guard has been on the NCAA Starting 5 and the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week on three occasions. The sophomore has also been named SEC Player of the Week four times this season, which is tied for the most in a single season in program history.
In addition to leading the nation in scoring, Blakes ranks first in the SEC in field goals made (237), free throws made (168) and points scored (709). She is riding a 46-game double-digit scoring streak, which is the third-longest active streak in NCAA Division I. Blakes has scored 30 points in four of her last five games at the time of print, as she is the first Commodore since the turn of the century to have four-consecutive games with 30 or more points.
The No. 5/6-ranked Commodores are set to host No. 16/18 Kentucky on Sunday for a top-20 matchup at Memorial Gymnasium. Tipoff against the Wildcats is set for 2 p.m. CT and streams live on SEC Network+.
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