NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team began the 2024-25 campaign in a big way, as the Commodores blitzed Lipscomb, 102-50, in Monday’s season opener.
Vanderbilt scored 100-plus points for the first time under head coach Shea Ralph in the season-opening victory over the Bisons. The last time the Dores registered 100 or more points came on Nov. 25, 2019, when Vandy posted a 106-55 win at Tennessee State.
The Commodores move to 1-0 on the year, while Lipscomb falls to 0-1. With the win, Vanderbilt improves to 4-0 in season openers under Ralph. She becomes the first Vandy women’s basketball coach to win four-straight season openers to begin their career.
Sophomore Khamil Pierre registered her fifth career double-double in the season opener. The 6-2 forward scored a team-high 25 points and pulled down a team-best 14 rebounds in 24 minutes of action. The Phoenix, Arizona, native went 12-of-17 from the field and added five steals to her stat line. Pierre is the first Dore to record a double-double in the season opener since Koi Love’s 19-point, 12-rebound effort against East Tennessee State in the first game of the 2020-21 campaign.
Pierre was one of four Vanderbilt players to register double-digit points against Lipscomb. Freshman Mikayla Blakes tallied 23 points in her Vanderbilt debut. Meanwhile, senior Iyana Moore added 15 points to extend her double-digit scoring streak to eight games, and sophomore Madison Greene collected 14 points off the bench in her first game with the Commodores since her season-ending knee injury against Lipscomb last year.
The Commodores used its size advantage against Lipscomb throughout the game, as Vandy scored 70 points in the paint, which allowed the Dores to shoot 53.1 percent from the field. Defensively, Vanderbilt held LU to 27.9 percent from the field and forced its Music City counterpart into 23 turnovers.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Win
“It was great to see the stands filled for Education Day. I want to thank the schools that came out and provided us with a great atmosphere. It’s always great for us to fill the seats here. I don’t know if I could be more proud of our first game. I’m not surprised, but I’m not satisfied. There is a lot that we can clean up. It feels like since I’ve been here, I’ve been asking for a full team effort, and I felt like we got a full team effort in our first game out of the gate this season.
“Really proud of all of our team. I’m not sure if there is a player that I am harder on than Khamil Pierre, and I thought she showed up and dominated the game in a bunch of different ways. Mikayla Blakes is pretty special, and what she did today is something that she does every single day in practice. There were a lot of individuals who played well today, but there are things as a team that we need to clean up before we play again on Friday. Overall, I’m really proud of my team and the effort we had today.”
How It Happened
Vanderbilt opened the game on a 6-0 run, but Lipscomb quickly knotted the game up at 8-all through the first three minutes of play. The Commodores closed the frame on a 23-7 run to take a commanding 31-15 lead into the second stanza. Blakes scored 14 points in the opening frame, as she went 6-of-12 from the field.
The Dores continued to outrun the Bisons in the second quarter, as Vandy built its lead to as many as 29 points before taking a 53-25 lead into the locker room. Vanderbilt clamped down on Lipscomb in the second half as the Dores took a 42-point lead into the fourth quarter. Vanderbilt continued to push away from Lipscomb in the final frame, as the Commodores claimed the 52-point season-open victory.
Up Next
The Commodores return to Memorial Gym Friday to host Austin Peay. Tipoff against the Governors is set for 6:30 p.m. and will stream live on SEC Network+.
Dore Notes
- Vanderbilt earned its fourth straight season-opening win under head coach Shea Ralph. She is the only head coach in program history to accomplish this feat.
- The Commodores earned their 19th consecutive win over the Bisons and maintained their perfect series record with Lipscomb.
- The Dores scored 102 points for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign.
- The last time Vandy had a 100-plus point performance was on Nov. 25, 2019, with a 106-55 win at Tennessee State.
- Sophomore Khamil Pierre led the Commodores with 25 points, the second 20-plus point game in her career, to extend her current double-digit scoring streak to four games.
- Pierre added 14 rebounds to post her fifth career double-double. It is also her fifth career game with double-digit caroms.
- Pierre is the first Commodore to record a double-double in the season opener in five seasons. The last time it happened was during the first game of the 2020-21 campaign when Koi Love tallied 19 points and 12 rebounds in an 81-61 win over East Tennessee State.
- Pierre also grabbed a career-best five steals.
- In her collegiate debut, freshman Mikayla Blakes posted 23 points, and she is the first Commodore to score 20-plus points in her debut game under head coach Shea Ralph.
- Iyanna Moore extended her double-digit scoring streak to eight games, dating back to the 2023-24 season, with 15 points versus the Bisons.
- Madison Greene reached double figures, scoring 14 points off the bench in her first game back from last year’s season-ending injury, which ironically occurred against Lipscomb on Dec. 17, 2023.
- She also swiped a career-best six steals.
- Vandy scored 50-plus points in the first half of its season opener for the second year in a row. In 2023, the Dores scored a school-record 66 first-half points versus Kennesaw State.
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