BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The SEC announced Wednesday that Vanderbilt women’s basketball player Mikayla Blakes has earned the SEC Freshman of the Week honors. It is the first career weekly conference honor for the guard.
It is the first career weekly SEC accolade for Blakes, who led all SEC freshmen in scoring this past week at 22.5 points per game. She shot 46.9 percent from the field (15-of-32) to help the Commodores to a pair of wins over South Florida (Nov. 14) and Butler (Nov. 17). Her performance helped Vanderbilt improve to 4-0 for the third-straight season.
The highlight of her week came in last Sunday’s 81-62 home win over Butler, where she scored a career-best 29 points. Blakes’ 29-point performance against the Bulldogs ties her for the fifth-most points scored in a game by a Vanderbilt freshman, tying her with three other Commodores. The guard also became the fifth Vandy freshman to register 29 or more points in a game, becoming the first since Iyana Moore’s 32-point performance vs. Alabama State on Dec. 28, 2021. She hit a personal-best four 3-point field goals and added a career-high three steals in the win over Butler. It is Blakes’ second 20-point performance of her young Vandy career, as she registered 23 points in the season-opening win over Lipscomb on Nov. 4.
The Somerset, New Jersey, native opened the week by scoring 16 points in her first collegiate road game, helping the Commodores post a 62-49 win at South Florida on Nov. 14. She hit two 3-pointers and added two steals to her stat line. Blakes has had multiple steals and made at least two 3-point field goals in every game this season.
Blakes has scored double-digit points in all four games this season, averaging a team-high 21.0 points per game. Blakes is the first Vanderbilt freshman since at least 2009-10 to score 15 or more points, hit two-plus 3-point field goals, and collect two or more steals in each of the season’s first four games.
The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team continues its three-game homestand Wednesday as the Commodores welcome Hampton to the Music City. Tipoff from Memorial Gym is set for 6:30 p.m. and streams live on SEC Network+ via the Watch ESPN app.
For more information and exclusive content on the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team, follow @VandyWBB on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X.
