Dores Drop Tough Battle at No. 5/4 LSU

The Commodores go cold late, as the No. 5/4-ranked Tigers hand Vandy an 83-77 loss

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team hung tough with No. 5/4-ranked LSU, but a late run by the Tigers handed the Commodores an 8377 loss Monday night at Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Vanderbilt trailed 73-72 with 2:40 left to play in the game after a layup from graduate student Jordyn Oliver. LSU held the Commodores without a field goal over the next two-plus minutes, as an 8-3 run by the Tigers pushed their lead out to six points.

Vandy got a pair of 20-point performances from sophomore Khamil Pierre and senior Iyana Moore. Pierre registered a game-high 28 points, while Moore scored a season-best 23 points. It is Pierre’s 10th game with 20 or more points this season, while it was Moore’s first 20-plus point outing of the year.

Pierre’s 28-point effort at LSU extends her double-digit scoring streak to 20 games. She is the first Dore to score 10-plus points in 20-straight games since Carla Thomas’ 29-game streak during the 2006-07 season.

Moore hit a game-best five 3-point field goals, as she moved into ninth on Vanderbilt’s all-time 3-pointers made list with 178 career 3-point field goals made. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native moved into 27th on the school’s all-time scoring list, as she now has 1,141 career points.

Freshman Mikayla Blakes joined Pierre and Moore in the double-digit scoring column with a 12-point effort against the Tigers. Blakes pulled down a career-best six rebounds and swatted a personal-best two shots. The guard has now scored double figures in all but one game to start her collegiate career.

The loss extends Vanderbilt’s losing streak to three games, as the Commodores now stand at 14-4 overall on the year and 1-3 in SEC play. For LSU, the win pushes its winning streak to 19 games, as the Tigers improve to 19-0 overall and 4-0 in league play.

In total, there were 13 lead changes and seven ties in Monday’s contest. The Commodores shot 47.4 percent from the floor, while LSU posted a 47.9 percent field goal percentage. Vanderbilt collected nine steals and forced the Tigers into 17 turnovers. Vanderbilt outscored LSU 17-13 in fastbreak points.

How It Happened
Vanderbilt opened the game on an 8-3 run to take an early five-point advantage. LSU rolled off five-straight points to knot the contest up at 8-all. A 3-pointer from Moore and a layup from graduate Jane Nwaba put the Dores back up 13-8, but LSU would score 10 of the frame’s next 12 points to claim a 20-17 lead. Back-to-back buckets by Pierre closed out the first quarter with the team teams tied at 21-21.

LSU scored the first six points of the second stanza to take a 27-21 lead over the Commodores. A pair of Nwaba free throws ended the Tiger run, as Vandy trailed 27-23 at the 6:40 mark. After a couple of free throws pushed LSU’s advantage back out to six points. A 10-4 spurt by Vanderbilt pulled the Dores even with the Tigers at 33-33 with 3:16 left before halftime, but Moore sank her third 3-pointer of the first half to knot the game back up. Moore and Blakes would go a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe over the next two possessions to put Vanderbilt back on top at 37-35. LSU tied the game back up at 37-37 with a layup 1:40 left before halftime. That is where the score stood after 20 minutes of play.

Pierre hit a jumper that put Vanderbilt up 39-37 to open the third quarter. A 3-pointer by Moore and another layup from Pierre gave the Dores a 44-40 advantage less than two minutes into the frame. LSU used a 10-0 run to reclaim a 50-44 lead. Another trifecta from Moore pulled the Commodores to within a bucket at 54-51. Seconds later, Blakes made it a one-point game with a layup with just over a minute left in the frame. Vanderbilt headed into the night’s final frame with trailing the Tigers by a point at 58-57.

Oliver put the Commodores up 59-58 with a layup on the opening possession of the fourth quarter. A steal by the Dores led to a layup from Pierre that gave Vandy a 61-58 lead. A 7-2 run by the Tigers put LSU up 65-63, but a pair of free throws from Pierre tied the game at 65-all with 6:20 left to play. Back-to-back buckets from LSU put the Tigers up 69-65, but an old-fashioned 3-point play from Pierre pulled Vanderbilt back to within a point at 71-70 with 3:21 remaining on the clock. LSU rolled off six of the game’s next eight points to jump out a 77-72 lead and force Vandy to call a timeout with 1:46 left to play. Vanderbilt got a basket from sophomore Madison Greene to make it an 81-77 contest with 34 seconds left. LSU added two more free throws to secure the six-point win over the Dores.

Head coach Shea Ralph on the Result
“I’m really proud of our effort tonight. I am not a moral victory kind of coach, but it’s no secret that we’ve had a pretty tough week. Our last couple of games were not our best effort, and we didn’t have a lot of energy. I challenged my players and staff the last two days of practice, and I think they responded very well. Today looked like the team I know we can be. This is a team that can be competitive with anyone in the country when we play hard and play together. We could’ve been a little smarter today. We had some untimely turnovers, not too many, but some very untimely ones. Credit to LSU. The rebounding battle is always a tough one against them.  I do want to say how proud I am of my team.”

Up Next
The Commodores return to Memorial Gymnasium on Sunday as Vanderbilt welcomes in No. 15/15 Tennessee. Tipoff against the Lady Volunteers is set for 2 p.m. and streams live on SEC Network+.

Dore Notes

  • Sophomore Khamil Pierre extended her double-digit scoring streak to 20 games with a 28-point performance
  • Pierre’s 20-game double-digit scoring streak is the longest by a Commodore since Christina Foggie’s 19-game streak during the 2013-14 campaign
  • It is the first time a Dore has had a double-figure scoring streak of 20 or more games since Carla Thomas’ 29-game streak during the 2006-07 season
  • It is Pierre’s 10th game with 20-plus points this season and the 11th of her career
  • Senior Iyana Moore pushed her double-digit scoring streak to 10 games with a 23-point effort at LSU
  • It is Moore’s first game this season with 20 or more points, while it is her 14th overall
  • Moore’s five 3-pointers put her into ninth place by herself on Vanderbilt’s all-time 3-point field goals made list
  • Moore also moved up two spots on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list, as she is now 27th on the list. The senior passed Jence Rhoads (2008-11; 1,132 points) and Jillian Danker (1999-02; 1,134 points) with her 23-point effort at LSU
  • Freshman Mikayla Blakes
  • Vanderbilt falls to 26-28 all-time vs. LSU, while the Commodores are now 4-18 against the Tigers in Baton Rouge

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