NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team rolled to a 94-45 victory over Hampton Wednesday night at Memorial Gymnasium, as the Commodores remain perfect at 5-0 to open the 2024-25 season.
With the win, Vanderbilt improves to 5-0 for the third year in a row. It marks the first time in program history that the Dores have opened three consecutive seasons at 5-0. The loss drops Hampton to 1-3 overall this season.
The Commodores got off to a slow start but used a 51-7 run between the second and third quarters that broke a 23-23 tie and gave Vandy a 44-30 advantage. The Dores held the Lady Pirates scoreless for 7:05 of game time and rolled off 26-straight points during the stretch to post its longest-scoring run of the season. It is also the second time that Vanderbilt has scored 20-plus points in a row this season, as the Commodores put up 24-straight points against Austin Peay on Nov. 8.
Freshman Mikayla Blakes turned in another spectacular performance. She scored a game-high 22 points and dished out a career-best eight assists to go along with three steals. Blakes, who was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for the first time in her career earlier this week, is the only Commodore since at least 2009-10 to register at least 15-plus points and two or more steals in each of their first five games at Vanderbilt.
Sophomore Khamil Pierre collected her fourth double-double of the season with a 15-point, 12-rebound effort against the Lady Pirates. The 6-2 forward was one of four double-digit scorers for the Commodores in Wednesday’s victory. Senior Iyana Moore returned from a one-game absence and scored 12 points, going 5-of-10 from the floor. Sophomore Madison Greene chipped in 11 points off the bench after starting in the last two games in Moore’s place. Greene has now scored double-digit points in all three games she has come off the bench this season.
Vanderbilt shot 54.3 percent from the field. It is the third time that the Commodores have shot over 50 percent from the floor in 2024-25. The Dores held Hampton to 36.7 percent from the floor and allowed a season-low three 3-point field goals. Vandy forced HU into 24 turnovers, which the Commodores turned into 36 points.
How It Happened
The two teams traded blows over the first 10 minutes of play, as Vanderbilt and Hampton had five ties and eight lead changes in the first quarter. Moore hit a running floater as time expired to give the Dores a 23-21 lead going into the second.
The Lady Pirates got the first bucket of the second quarter to knot the game up at 23-all. Vandy went on a 15-0 run from that point to take its first double-digit lead of the game at 38-23 after back-to-back 3-pointers from Blakes and sophomore Aga Makurat. In total, the Commodores outscored the Hampton 28-5 to close out the second quarter to take a 51-28 lead into halftime.
The Dores registered the first 18 points of the third quarter to jump out to a 41-point lead at 69-30. The Lady Pirates got a bucket at the 5:05 mark of the third to bring Vanderbilt’s 26-0 run dating back from the second quarter to an end. That would be the only field goal the Commodores would allow in the third, as Vandy held Hampton to just two free throws over the frame’s final 4:44 to take a 76-32 advantage into the night’s final stanza.
Vanderbilt began the fourth quarter on another elongated run. The Dores scored 16 of the frame’s first 20 points to take a game-high 56-point lead at 92-36 before settling for the 94-45 victory.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Win
“You see the best of your team and the worst of your team in these types of games, and that is good for us. Sometimes, it takes games like this to get players to understand how to prepare, how to communicate on the court, and how to step up and help each other. If you prepare the right way, then the margin for error isn’t as razor-thin in really competitive games. You prepare so that you can perform at a high level in highly competitive games, and that’s what championship teams do.
“Credit to Hampton, they came out and threw punches today. I’m very proud of how my team responded. That first quarter was unacceptable, but I’m glad that we were able to turn it around. I think it was a good game for us. Hopefully, we’ll be able to use it as a stepping stone going into Friday’s game and on the road next week for two big games.”
Up Next
The Commodores conclude their three-game homestand Friday as Vandy welcomes in Samford. Tipoff against the Bulldogs is set for 6:30 p.m., and streams live on SEC Network+.
Dore Notes
- Mikayla Blakes extended her double-digit scoring streak to five games to begin her Vanderbilt career with a 22-point performance vs. Hampton
- Blakes is the first Commodore since at least 2009-10 to open their Vanderbilt career with five-straight games with 15-plus points and two-plus steals
- The freshman guard added a career-high eight assists to her stat line vs. Hampton
- Khamil Pierre recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while it is the eighth total of her career
- Pierre extends her double-digit scoring streak to a career-high eight games
- The sophomore is one of eight NCAA Division I players to collect a double-double in all but one of their team’s games this season
- Senior Iyana Moore scored double-digit points for the third time this season with a 12-point performance
- Sophomore Madison Greene registered 11 points off the bench after starting each of the last two games
- It is Greene’s seventh career game scoring double-figure points, while it is her fourth game with 10-plus points this season
- Greene has now scored double-digit points in three-straight games as a reserve
- The Commodores move to 5-0 for the third-straight season for the first time in program history
- Vanderbilt improves to 2-0 all-time against Hampton
- The Dores are now 28-5 at Memorial Gymnasium vs. nonconference opponents under head coach Shea Ralph
- Vandy has won 15-straight home games against non-SEC teams dating back to the 2022-23 season
- Vanderbilt held an opponent to single-digit points in back-to-back quarters for the first time since Nov. 26, 2021, against Rutgers in the Virgin Islands
- Vanderbilt’s 26-0 run against the Lady Pirates in the second and third quarters mark the longest scoring run by the Commodores this season
- The 26-0 run marks the second time this season that Vanderbilt scored 20-plus points in a row, as they went on a 24-0 run against Austin Peay on Nov. 8
- Vanderbilt scored 90-plus points for the third time in five games this season
- The Commodores hold an opponent to under 52 points for the fifth-straight game to open the season
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