NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The duo of freshman Mikayla Blakes and sophomore Khamil Pierre sparked the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team to an 81-52 win over Butler on Sunday to kick off a three-game homestand at Memorial Gymnasium.
The Commodore underclassmen outscored Butler by a point, as they combined to register 53 points against the Bulldogs. Blakes registered a career-high 29 points in Sunday’s win, while Pierre chipped in 24 points. They are the first set of Vandy women’s basketball players to score 20 points in a game since Jan. 7, 2024, when Jordyn Cambridge (24 points) and Iyana Moore (20 points) accomplished the feat against Florida at Memorial Gym.
The win improves Vanderbilt to 4-0 on the year, as the Dores handed the Bulldogs, who are now 3-1, their first loss of the 2024-25 campaign.
Blakes’ 29-point performance against Butler is tied for the fifth-most points scored by a Vanderbilt freshman in a game. She matches with Kady Schrann (vs. LSU, Jan. 29, 2012), Barbara Brackman (vs. Duke, March 13, 1982), and Harriet Brumfield (at Delta State, Feb. 20, 1982, and vs. Northwestern, Nov. 27, 1981). Blakes also extends her double-digit scoring streak to four games to open her Vanderbilt career.
Pierre had a 24-point performance to extend her double-digit scoring streak to seven games dating back to last season. The 6-2 forward pulled down a game-high eight rebounds, bringing her three-game double-double streak to an end. It is the third time in Pierre’s collegiate career that she has scored 20 or more points in a game. She also collected a game-best four steals against the Bulldogs.
The Commodores shot 50.9 percent from the field on Sunday while limiting Butler to a 38.3 percent success rate from the floor. The Dores hit a season-high eight 3-pointers in the win and held a 33-25 edge on the glass. Vandy forced Butler into 30 turnovers, which turned into 41 points for the Commodores.
How It Happened
Neither team could get into an offensive flow over the first five minutes of play, as junior Justine Pissott’s running layup gave the Commodores a 7-3 edge at the 4:59 mark of the opening frame. Her basket sparked a 12-2 run that gave Vandy a 17-5 advantage with 38 ticks left in the first quarter. Butler made a 3-point basket in the closing seconds of the frame to cut Vanderbilt’s lead to 17-8 going into the second stanza.
Blakes drilled trifecta to open the second frame, but the Bulldogs responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to pull within six points of the Dores at 20-14, forcing Ralph to call a timeout. The Commodores scored seven-straight points out of the break to jump out to a 27-14 advantage and force Butler to take a timeout of its own. Vanderbilt kept its foot on the pedal for the remainder of the second as the Dores closed the frame on a 10-4 run to take a 37-20 lead into the locker room. Vanderbilt went on a 17-6 spurt from when it called the timeout to the end of the frame, turning a six-point lead into a 17-point halftime advantage.
The Commodores scored the first six points of the third to take a 23-point lead at 43-20 after a Blakes 3-pointer. Vanderbilt extended its lead to a quarter-high 27 points midway through the quarter at 51-24 after a layup from sophomore Aiyana Mitchell. Blakes drilled her fourth trifecta of the contest to close out the third quarter, putting the home team up, 59-36, going into the game’s final frame.
Vanderbilt led by as many as 35 points in the fourth quarter before settling for the 81-52 win to begin its three-game homestand before the Thanksgiving holiday.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Win
“Butler is a really good team that was coming off a great victory over Indiana at home just a few days ago, so we knew they were going to come in here and play hard. We’re a little banged up right now, so I’m really proud of our players who stepped up and filled in the gaps that we had. That group allowed Iyana Moore to take another day to recover. That speaks to the depth that we finally have this year, which is really important when you’re trying to play into late March and early April. I also love that we got a lot of minutes for some players who haven’t played as much as we would like so far this season. I thought Leilani looked good today and started to look more comfortable out there.
“Khamil and Mikayla are Khamil and Mikayla. I’m not surprised by the things they do every game because I see it in practice. It’s another special offensive performance for Mikayla, but I don’t think people understand what she and Madison Greene do on defense. We had 21 turnovers, which I’m not happy about, but we did force 30 turnovers and scored 41 points off of those. We’re going to have days where our offense gets a little wonky, but if we can play defense like that, we’ll always give ourselves a chance. I’m very proud of our team. It was the first game of a three-game week, and this was a great way to start.”
Up Next
Vanderbilt’s three-game homestand continues Wednesday as the Commodores welcome Hampton to the Music City. Tipoff from Memorial Gymnasium is set for 6:30 p.m., and streams live on SEC Network+.
Dore Notes
- Mikayla Blakes becomes just the fifth Vanderbilt freshman to score 29-plus points in a game, joining Barbara Brackman (1981-82), Harriet Brumfield (1981-82), Kady Schrann (2011-12), and Iyana Moore (2020-21) as the only Commodores to accomplish the feat
- Blakes extends her double-figure scoring streak to four games
- Blakes drilled a career-high four 3-pointers vs. the Bulldogs
- She has now hit at least two 3-point field goals in every game this season
- Blakes set career bests in points (29) and free throw made (7) while tying her nine field goal made vs. Butler matches her personal best
- Sophomore Khamil Pierre pushed her double-digit scoring streak to seven straight games with a 24-point performance
- Pierre lead the Dores on the glass, collecting eight rebounds, snapping her three-game double-double streak
- Pierre made a season-high six free throws while shooting a season-high eight attempts
- Graduate Jordyn Oliver dished out a season-high six assists
- Graduate Jane Nwaba went a perfect 3-of-3 from behind the arc, marking the first time that she has made three or more 3-pointers at Vanderbilt
- Junior Justine Pissott made her 2024-25 debut after missing the first three games of the season and matched her career-best in rounds with six
- The Dores racked up 13 steals, the second time this season with 10 or more in a game
- Vandy had three players with three or more steals in a game for the first time this season: Pierre (4), Blakes (3), Greene (3), Kapinus (3)
- Vanderbilt had two players, Blakes with four and Nwaba with three, make three or more threes for the first time since March 3, 2024, versus Georgia
- The Dores’ had two 20-point scorers in a game for the first time since Iyana Moore (20) and Jordyn Cambridge (24) vs. Florida on January 7, 2024
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