COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team collected a 68-61 victory at Missouri to pick up a program record sixth SEC road win this season.
The Commodores had to withstand a Missouri rally in the third quarter, as the Tiger erased a 10-point Vanderbilt lead in the stanza. Trailing by a point going into the fourth quarter, the Dores opened the final frame on an 11-2 run to take a 58-50 lead with three minutes left to play. Vandy hit six free throws over the final minute of play to secure the seven-point victory.
Junior Iyana Moore led a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Commodores, as she registered 15 points to extend her double-digit scoring streak to three games. Sophomore Justine Pissott collected 12 points in the win, while junior Sacha Washington tallied 11 points. Freshman Khamil Pierre rounded out the group with her 10-point performance.
The win pushes Vandy’s overall record to 21-8 on the year, while the Commodores improve to 8-7 in SEC play.
Vanderbilt shot 39.3 percent in the win and outrebounded the Tigers, 38-30, led by Moore’s career-high nine caroms. The Dores’ performance on the glass allowed Vanderbilt to hold a 19-6 edge in second chance points. The Commodores also hit nine 3-pointers in the win, as Pissott paced the team with four makes from behind the arc, while Moore drilled three trifectas.
How It Happened
The Commodores used an early 7-0 run midway through the opening quarter to turn a three-point deficit into a 17-13 lead after a Jordyn Cambridge layup at the 1:40 mark of the frame. Vanderbilt maintained a 19-15 advantage going into the second stanza.
The Dores jumped out to a double-digit lead in the second quarter, as a layup from Jordyn Oliver put Vanderbilt up 26-16 with 7:15 on the clock. The Commodores hit four 3-pointers in the quarter, but couldn’t pull away from the Tigers. Missouri got to within a point of the Dores at 29-28 after making a 3-pointer at the four-minute mark. The two teams traded a total of four 3-point field goals from that point, as Vandy clung onto a 35-34 lead going into the final minute of the half. Pierre pushed Vanderbilt’s back lead out to three points with a jumper, but the Tigers closed the frame with a layup, as Vanderbilt took a 37-36 advantage into the locker room.
Missouri took a brief 38-37 lead to start the third. Vanderbilt responded, as Pissott hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap off an 8-0 run that put the Dores up 45-38 with 7:44 remaining in the third. Missouri ended the frame on a 10-2 run that gave the Tigers a 48-47 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
Pissott gave the Commodores the lead back with a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter. Vanderbilt used an 8-0 run in the middle stages of the frame to take a 10-point lead at 60-50. Vandy had to withstand one final push from Missouri, as the Tigers made it a six-point game with 1:33 left to play. Vanderbilt was able to convert from the free throw line down the stretch, as the Commodores hit six charity tosses in the final minute to seal the victory.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Win
“I’m really proud of my team because we came away with another team win. We had a few stretches where our defense faltered, especially toward the end of the first half. I challenged them at halftime to communicate better. I was really happy with our performance in the fourth quarter. I thought we made big shots and our players responded from the mistakes they made earlier. It was a true team win. I’m still looking forward to playing our best basketball. I don’t think we’ve done that yet. I really hope we can do that at home on Sunday for Senior Day in front of a great crowd.”
Up Next
Vanderbilt returns to Memorial Gymnasium on Sunday, as the Commodores will take on Georgia in the final regular season contest of the 2023-24 campaign. It will also be Senior Day at Memorial Gym, as the program will honor seniors Jordyn Cambridge and Bella LaChance.
Dore Notes
- The Commodores pick up a program-record sixth SEC road win this season
- Vandy is now 8-3 in true road games this season and 2-0 in neutral game
- Vanderbilt snaps an eight-game losing streak to Missouri
- The Commodores picked up their first win over the Tigers since Feb. 28, 2016, when the Dores collected a 56-52 win at Mizzou Arena
- Vandy is now 2-4 all-time against Missouri in Columbia
- With Vanderbilt’s win, coupled with Auburn’s win tonight, the Commodores are locked into the No. 6 seed at next week’s SEC Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina
- Jordyn Cambridge pulled within three steals from breaking Vanderbilt’s all-time steals record. Cambridge now has 336 career steals, just one away from passing Deborah Denton’s (1986-89) program record of 338 steals
- Iyana Moore extends her double-digit scoring streak to three games with a 15-point performance at Missouri
- Moore has now scored double figures in 13 of her last 16 games
- Moore also pulled down a career-high nine rebounds against the Tigers
- Sacha Washington extends her double-digit scoring streak to three games with an 11-point performance
- Justine Pissott scored double-digit points for the fifth time this season, with a 12-point effort, while it is her sixth career game with 10 or more points
- It is the first time that Pissott has scored double-figure points in an SEC contest
- Khamil Pierre scores double-digit points for the 11th time this season with a 10-point performance
- Jordyn Cambridge is now three points away from scoring 1,000 career points, she will be the 40th Commodore to score 1,000 points
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