NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team broke the 100-point plateau for the fourth time this season as the Commodores collected a 103-68 win over West Georgia on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium.
The Commodores got a 20-plus point performance from freshman Mikayla Blakes and sophomore Khamil Pierre for the sixth time this season. Blakes registered a game-high 24 points to extend her double-digit scoring streak to 13 games to begin her Vanderbilt career. Meanwhile, Pierre registered her fourth-straight double-double,10th overall this season. The 6-2 forward has collected a double-double in six of her last seven games, as her 10 double-doubles overall are the fifth-most collected by a Commodore in a single season in program history. Blakes and Pierre are the only pair of teammates in NCAA Division I, both on the men’s side and women’s side, to average over 20.0 points per game this season.
With the victory, Vanderbilt improves to 12-1 on the year, while West Georgia falls to 5-5. The Dores have now won 19-straight home games against nonconference teams dating back to the 2022-23 campaign. The Commodores led from start to finish against the Wolves, as Vandy collected its ninth-straight victory overall at Memorial Gymnasium. Additionally, it is Vanderbilt’s sixth victory of 35 or more points during the 2024-25 campaign.
Senior Iyana Moore registered 16 points to extend her double-digit scoring streak to six games. Moore’s performance against West Georgia moved her to No. 34 on Vanderbilt’s all-time scoring list, as she now has 1,055 career points, one point away from moving into 33rd on the list. Graduate student Leilani Kapinus rounded out a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Commodores, scoring 10 points off the bench.
The Dores shot 48.8 percent from the field while limiting West Georgia to a 36.8 percent clip in field goal percentage. Vanderbilt forced 26 turnovers and collected 17 steals in the win, as the Commodores outscored UWG, 37-16, in points off turnovers. Vandy has now collected 16 or more steals in each of its last three contests.
How It Happened
The Commodores came out running, scoring the first 15 points of the contest, as Vandy made seven of its first eight shots to open the game. Vanderbilt collected six steals during the game’s first three minutes, with the Dores scoring 11 points off turnovers during the game-opening run. Vandy maintained a double-digit advantage for the remainder of the first quarter, taking a 24-14 lead into the second stanza.
The Dores pushed their advantage to 34-16 points early in the second. Vanderbilt opened the frame on a 10-2 spurt, capped off with a Kapinus 3-point field goal. An 8-0 run later in the frame gave the Commodores a 23-point lead with 3:40 left to play before halftime. Three-consecutive 3-point field goals from Moore pushed the Vandy advantage to 30 points in the closing seconds of the quarter. Blakes got a putback on her own 3-point attempt right before the halftime buzzer sounded to put Vanderbilt up 59-27 going into the locker room.
Vanderbilt used a 10-4 run to open the third quarter and take a 38-point lead over the Wolves. West Georgia pulled to within 23 points late in the stanza, but back-to-back layups from Kapinus and Blakes put the Dores up 79-52 going into the fourth quarter.
The lead continued to grow in the fourth quarter, as Vanderbilt used a 17-4 run to take a 98-56 advantage. The Dores broke the century mark with a jumper from junior Jada Brown at the 3:56 mark of the fourth before walking away with the 35-point victory.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Win
“Overall, we played well. I’m happy that we were able to play a lot of our players today. We’re going into the holidays, and as I’ve been saying lately, this is a tough time of the year to keep your focus. I thought, for the most part, we did pretty well at keeping our focus over the last couple of games and did the things we needed to do going into this break to be able to spend time with families and take a breather away from basketball and school.
“With that said, one of the things that still concerns me is our consistency and effort in terms of lineup changes and on defense when we have a lead and let our foot off the gas. We don’t completely smother the other team, and that has popped up enough for me to know that could be a concern as we move forward. The great thing is that this is something that we can fix today if we decide that we want to fix it. It’s a mindset, so when we come back, I’m hoping we’ll be able to iron those little wrinkles out as we move into the SEC part of our season.”
Up Next
The Commodores will take a break from action next week for the holidays. Vanderbilt returns to the court on Dec. 29, when the Dores welcome in Alabama A&M. Tipoff against the Bulldogs is set for 11 a.m. CT and airs live on SEC Network.
Dore Notes
- Four or more Commodores scored double-digit points for the ninth game this season
- Vanderbilt forced West Georgia into 26 turnovers, as teams have turned the ball over 20 or more times against the Commodores in every game this season
- The Dores forced 20 turnovers in the first half, the most in a half this season
- Vandy’s 103-point outing is the fourth game this season the Commodores posted 100 or more points
- The four games that Vanderbilt has scored 100 or more is the most since the 1994-95 campaign, when the Dores broke the century mark five times that season
- The Dores have generated a lead of at least 20 points in all but one game this season
- The 35-point win is the seventh time this season the Commodores have won by 35 or more
- Today’s victory marks the ninth-straight win for Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium
- Vanderbilt is now 32-3 at Memorial Gym vs. non-SEC teams under head coach Shea Ralph
- The Commodores have won 19-straight home games against nonconference teams, a streak that dates back to the 2022-23 campaign
- Overall, Vandy is 45-13 against nonconference schools in the Ralph era.
- Vanderbilt moves to 12-1 for the second-straight season
- It marks the first time since the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons that Vandy has opened back-to-back seasons at 12-1
- Freshman Mikayla Blakes pushed her double-digit scoring run to 13-straight after scoring a team-high 24 against West Georgia, as she is the only Commodore to begin her career with 13-straight double-digit scoring performances since 1999-00
- It is Blakes’ eighth game with 20 or more points this season
- Sophomore Khamil Pierre extended her career-long double-digit scoring streak to 15 games with a 23-point performance
- Pierre pulled down 10 rebounds to collect her 10th double-double of the season, which is second-most in all of NCAA Division I
- Pierre’s 10 double-doubles are the fifth-most collected in a single season in school history
- Pierre has now posted a double-double in four-straight games
- The sophomore has now recorded six double-doubles over her last seven games
- Senior Iyana Moore added 16 points to push her double-digit scoring streak to six games
- Moore grabbed sole possession of No. 34 on the all-time scoring leaders list, passing Abi Ramsey (1,049; 2002-05)
- The guard has now hit three or more 3-point field goals in four of her last five games
- Graduate Leilani Kapinus scored 10 points, the third time this season with double-digit points
- The win moves Vanderbilt to 3-0 vs. the ASUN this season after already securing wins against Lipscomb (102-50) and Austin Peay (93-37)
- Khamil Pierre and Mikayla Blakes remain the only pair of teammates to average 20 or more points per game throughout all three levels of NCAA women’s basketball
- Blakes and Pierre are also the only pair of NCAA Division I teammates on either the men’s or women’s side to average over 20.0 points per game this season
- Sophomore Jada Brown and freshman Trinity Wilson each scored a season-high six points in the win
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