Dores Move On

GREENVILLE, S.C. – No last-second heroics were needed this time, as the No. 8-seed Vanderbilt women’s basketball team knocked No. 9-seed Tennessee out of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament with an 84-76 win on Thursday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

With the victory, Vanderbilt moves onto the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, where they will face No. 1-seed South Carolina on Friday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.

Today’s victory over the Lady Volunteers in the second round of the SEC Tournament marks the first time in program history that Vandy has beaten Tennessee twice in the same season. The Dores defeated the Lady Vols, 71-70, on Jan. 19 at Memorial Gymnasium, where freshman Mikayla Blakes’ putback tip-in with 0.8 seconds gave the Commodores the win. Additionally, Vanderbilt’s victory over Tennessee marks the first time since the 2000-01 season that the Dores have beaten the Lady Vols in the SEC Tournament.

The win moves Vanderbilt’s overall record to 22-9 this season. The Commodores have now posted three-straight wins. The Dores now advance to the SEC Tournament quarterfinals for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

The Commodores were led by a trio of double-digit scorers. Blakes paced Vandy with 24 points, shooting and dished out four assists. Senior Iyana Moore tallied 23 points and went 4-of-4 from behind the arc. Sophomore Khamil Pierre registered her 16th double-double of the season with a 16-point, 15-rebound effort.

For Blakes, it was her 19th game this season scoring 20 or more points, while it was Moore’s third 20-plus point performance of the season. Pierre registered double-digit points for the 31st time over her last 32 games.

Vanderbilt used a 23-5 run midway through the third quarter to break a 39-39 tie and take a 17-point advantage. The Commodores maintained their double-digit lead until the game’s closing seconds, as Vandy posted the eight-point victory over Tennessee.

The Dores shot 46.3 percent from the floor and made six 3-pointers. Vanderbilt won the rebounding battle, 42-34, which led to a 21-6 edge in second chance points for the Commodores. Vandy led for 37:02 of game time on Thursday.

Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Result
“I want to say how excited we are to be moving on. I’m really proud of our team for their resilient effort today. I thought we had contributions from multiple people, but you can’t say enough about what Iyana Moore did for us today. She has gone through it here. We’ve been together since she arrived at Vanderbilt. I was really hard on her this year, and she is playing some of the best basketball of her career right now.

“This is the first time in our program’s history beating Tennessee twice in one year, but we’re not done yet. This is just the beginning of March. We expected to win today and we’re excited to move on to tomorrow.”

How It Happened
Vanderbilt opened the game on a 10-2 run that forced Tennessee to call a timeout at the 7:24 mark. The Commodores came out of the break on a 7-3 spurt to take a double-digit lead at 15-5 after a 3-pointer from Moore. Tennessee punched back as the Commodores held a 27-20 lead going into the second stanza.

After the Dores opened the second quarter with a layup to go up by nine, Tennessee went on a 12-2 run to take its first lead of the contest at 31-30. Graduate student Jordyn Oliver’s layup gave the Dores back the lead, but the Lady Volunteers responded with four-consecutive points to reclaim their advantage. Vanderbilt closed the quarter on an 8-1 run to take a 39-33, as a 3-pointer by graduate student Jane Nwaba capped off the half.

Tennessee opened the third quarter by scoring six-straight points to pull even with the Commodores at 39-all. Vanderbilt went on a 23-5 run from there to take a 17-point lead over the Lady Vols. The Commodores maintained their double-digit lead for the remainder of the quarter.

Vanderbilt held a double-figure advantage for the majority of the fourth quarter, until an 8-0 run by the Lady Volunteers made it a seven-point game at 79-72 with 40 seconds left to play. The Dores made five-consecutive free throws with 16 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.

Up Next
The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team continues its run in the 2025 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament on Friday. The Commodores take on No. 1-seeded South Carolina at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.

Dores Notes

• Vanderbilt moves to the quarterfinals of the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament for the first time since the 2015-16 season
• The Dores are now 50-38 all-time at the SEC Tournament
• The Commodores collect two wins over Tennessee in the same season for the first time in program history
• Freshman Mikayla Blakes extended her double-digit scoring streak to 17 games with her 24-point performance
• Blakes has now scored 20 or more points in 19 contests this season
• Senior Iyana Moore registered 23 points to record her third game of the season with 20-plus points
• Sophomore Khamil Pierre collected her 16th double-double of the season with 16 points and 15 rebounds
• Pierre pushed her double-figure scoring streak to eight games
• The forward pulled down double-digit rebounds for the 17th game this season
• Vanderbilt collected its second SEC Tournament victory under head coach Shea Ralph

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