MARTIN, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team battled back from a double-digit deficit in the second half Thursday night at UT Martin to score a thrilling 70-68 come-from-behind victory against the Skyhawks.
Vanderbilt’s defense stood tall down the stretch in the comeback. UT Martin, who led for over 32 minutes of game time, sank a 3-point field goal with 3:39 left to play to give the Skyhawks a 68-65 lead. The Dores got a layup from junior Sacha Washington to bring Vanderbilt to within a point at 68-67 with 1:55 on the clock. The two teams would trade defensive blows before graduate student Jordyn Cambridge nailed a jumper with 35 seconds left to give Vanderbilt a 69-68 advantage.
Holding onto a one-point lead, the Commodores’ defense had to make one more stop, as UT Martin had the ball with 11 seconds remaining. The Skyhawks got a baseline shot off, but it rimmed out and fell into the hands of freshman Madison Greene, who immediately called a timeout. After the break, UTM put junior Iyana Moore at the free throw line, where she would seal the 70-68 victory for Vanderbilt.
Vandy held UT Martin scoreless over the final 3:38 of the game, which enabled the Commodores to mount the comeback. Overall, Vanderbilt forced 14 UTM turnovers, which turned into 14 points off turnovers for the Dores.
Cambridge and Washington each recorded a double-double in the win over the Skyhawks. Cambridge flirted with a triple-double, as she put up 16 points and 12 rebounds to go along with a game-high six assists. Meanwhile, Washington registered a game-best 18 points and grabbed 10 caroms on the night.
Moore and Greene also registered double-digit points in the victory over UT Martin. Moore tallied 12 points to give the junior her second-straight double-digit scoring performance of the season, while Greene registered a career-best 11 points off the bench.
Coach Ralph on the victory
“I’m really proud. We had a hard time guarding them, especially in the first half of the game. We work a lot on our defense and take a lot of pride in it, but I love the challenge we were faced with today. UT Martin is a great team. I love playing them and this is a tough place to play. Hats off to them because they made us work for everything. The message to my team is you need to focus on every possession to win. Games are never won or lost in the first half, plays have to be made throughout the game and we did a good job at that tonight.”
Up Next
The Commodores return to Memorial Gymnasium this Sunday, when they take on Fairfield. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. and will stream live on SEC Network+.
Dore Notes
– Vanderbilt moves to 2-0 on the year for the second straight season. It is the first time since the 2013-14 and 2014-15 campaigns that the Commodores have opened back-to-back seasons at 2-0.
– Sacha Washington and Jordyn Cambridge each recorded a double-double against the Skyhawks, marking the first time since March 2, 2022, that Vanderbilt has had two players record a double-double in the same game.
– Sacha Washington collected her first double-double of the 2023-24 season with a 16-point, 10-rebound performance against UT Martin. It is Washington’s 14th career double-double at Vanderbilt.
– Jordyn Cambridge’s double-double against the Skyhawks is the sixth of her career and her first of the 2023-24 season.
– Cambridge collected a game-high four steals to move into sixth place on Vanderbilt’s all-time steals list with 243 career steals.
– Vanderbilt moves to 13-2 all-time against UT Martin. The Commodores are now 6-1 all-time against the Skyhawks in Martin, Tennessee.
– Freshman Madison Greene scored a career-high 11 points and hit a personal-best two 3-point field goals against UT Martin.
