PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – Sophomore Khamil Pierre and Mikayla Blakes each had a 20-plus point performance in the first game of the 2024 Acrisure Classic to lift the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team past Arizona, 71-60, Tuesday afternoon.
Vandy’s underclass duo registered a combined 48 points as Pierre scored 25 points and Blakes tallied 23 points in the win over the Wildcats. It is the third time this season that the duo registered 20-plus points in the same game. Earlier in the day the pair swept the SEC weekly awards, as Pierre was named SEC Player of the Week and Blakes earned her second-straight SEC Freshman of the Week honor.
With the win, the Commodores improve to 7-0 on the year, while Arizona falls to 6-2 overall. Vanderbilt has now opened back-to-back seasons by winning their first seven games. The last time that happened was during the 1991-92 and 1992-93 campaigns.
Pierre registered her sixth double-double-double of the year to move back into a tie for the most in NCAA Division I this season with LSU’s Aneesha Morrow. The Phoenix, Arizona, native scored a game-high 25 points and matched her career-best performance on the glass with 15 rebounds against her home-state team. It is the third-straight double-double for the 6-2 forward and extends her double-digit scoring streak to a career-high 10 games. Pierre flirted with a triple-double against the Wildcats, as she added a career-best seven steals to her stat line.
Blakes scored 23 points and dished out four steals in the victory. She extended her double-digit scoring streak to seven games to begin her Vandy career. She is the first Commodore since at least the 2009-10 season to open their Vanderbilt career by scoring 14-plus points and collecting multiple steals in their first seven games.
The Commodores were held to a season-low 71 points as Vandy shot 38.9 percent from the field. Arizona held a 43.1 percent shooting percentage, though the Dores forced them into 26 turnovers that turned into 29 points for Vanderbilt. Coach Ralph’s team has forced at least 20 turnovers in every game during the 2024-25 campaign.
How It Happened
Vanderbilt led for nearly the entire first quarter against the Wildcats. After Arizona took an early 3-2 lead, the Commodores went on a 12-2 run to jump out to a nine-point advantage at 14-7 with 2:13 remaining in the opening frame. The two teams traded defensive blows for the remainder of the first stanza, with a combined three points scored over the final 2-plus minutes to give the Dores a 15-7 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
The Wildcats cut the Vandy lead to 15-11 with back-to-back buckets to open the second quarter. The Commodores rolled off seven-straight points from there to double up Arizona at 22-11 at the 5:49 mark. Vanderbilt’s lead was cut to six points with less than three minutes remaining before halftime, but the Commodores ended the frame on a 7-0 spurt that gave them a 31-18 advantage going into the locker room.
The Dores extended its run to 14-0 by scoring the first seven points of the third quarter to take a game-high 20-point lead at 38-18. The Wildcats chipped away at Vanderbilt’s advantage, pulling to within 12 points midway through the stanza. A personal 4-0 run by Pierre pushed the Dore lead back out to 16 points, but the Wildcats scored seven of the frame’s final 10 points to pull within 13 points of Vanderbilt at 50-37 going into the final frame.
Vandy’s lead was cut to a single point midway through the fourth, as Arizona opened the quarter on a 15-3 run that made it a 53-52 contest with 5:16 remaining. Out of an Arizona timeout, Blakes drained a 3-pointer in front of the Vanderbilt bench to give her team a 58-54 lead with 4:33 left to play. Blakes’ trifecta sparked a 6-2 run for the Dores that gave them a 62-56 advantage late in the fourth. The Dores were clutch down the stretch from the free throw line, as they scored seven of their final nine points in the game from the charity stripe. Vanderbilt closed the came on a 9-2 run to seal the 11-point win.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Win
“I’m really proud of the resilience we showed today. I felt like there were times when we were playing well, then other times we looked like we were about to fall apart. Obviously, it was a very physical game; there were almost 50 turnovers between the two teams. It’s not very pretty, but at the end of the day, pretty game or not, I want us to be resilient enough to win.
“I thought Khamil Pierre made some huge plays down the stretch with the steals for layups and the free throws. I also have to shout out the leadership from some of our veteran players. Khamil and Mikayla were huge, but Iyana, Jordyn, and Leilani were just as big today. Their leadership is valuable, and they were able to calm us down as the game went along. We could’ve very easily given that game away, but we did what we needed to do down the stretch to win it. That’s a big win and one we can learn a lot from.”
Up Next
The Commodores conclude their stay at the 2024 Acrisure Classic Wednesday with a 3:30 p.m. CT matchup against Michigan State. The game against the Spartans airs live on TruTV and streams simultaneously on HBO Max.
Dore Notes
- Khamil Pierre recorded her third-straight double-double with a 25-point, 15-rebound performance against Arizona
- It is Pierre’s sixth double-double of the season and the seventh of her career
- Pierre’s six double-doubles are tied for the most in NCAA Division I this season
- Pierre is one of four players in the country to record a double-double in all but one of their team’s games this season
- Pierre extends the longest double-digit scoring streak of her career to 10 games
- The 15 rebounds for Pierre tie her career-best performance on the glass, matching her 15 caroms vs. Florida in the second round of the 2024 SEC Tournament back on March 7, 2024
- Pierre collected a personal-best seven steals against Arizona, which is the most steals tallied in a game by a Vanderbilt player this season
- It is Pierre’s fourth game with 20-plus points this season and the fifth of her career
- Mikayla Blakes extended her double-digit scoring streak to seven games to begin her Vanderbilt career
- Blakes is the first Commodore to score at 14-plus points and have multiple steals in their first seven games since at least the 2009-10 season
- Vanderbilt improves to 7-0 for the second straight season, marking the first time since the
- Vanderbilt moves to 3-1 all-time against Arizona
- The Commodores are now 41-13 against nonconference teams under head coach Shea Ralph
- Vandy remains undefeated at 7-0, as they are one of 39 undefeated teams remaining in the country this season
- The Dores forced 20-plus turnovers for the seventh-straight game to open the season
- Every Commodore that played scored against Arizona, it is the second time this season that every Vanderbilt player that played scored
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