NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 7/6 Vanderbilt women’s basketball team had all five starters score in double figures, as the Commodores caged the Missouri Tigers, 99-68, at Memorial Gymnasium on Thursday in SEC action.
All five Vandy starters scored 15-plus points in the win over Missouri. It is the first time since at least the 1999-00 season that the Dores have had all five starters score 15-plus points. It is only the second time over the last 26-plus seasons that an SEC team has accomplished the feat, as Arkansas also had all five starters score 15-plus points against Florida on Jan. 5, 2023.
With the victory, Vanderbilt continues its second-best start in program history, as the Commodores are now 16-0 to open the 2025-26 season. Vandy is 3-0 in SEC play for the first time since the 2023-24 campaign. Only the 1992-93 Final Four team has gotten off to a better start to a season in school history, as that squad won its first 17 contests.
Sophomore Mikayla Blakes led all scorers on Thursday, as the All-American dropped a game-high 20 points in the win. It marks the guard’s fifth-straight game with 20-plus points. Blakes also extends her double-digit scoring streak to 35 games, which extends the second-longest streak by a Commodore since 1999-00. The Somerset, New Jersey, native dished out a game-best six assists and had a pair of steals.
Freshman Aubrey Galvan registered a career-high 19 points against the Tigers. The first-year point guard handed out four assists and collected a game-high five steals. The trio of Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda, Justine Pissott and Sacha Washington each had 15 points in the win. Washington also collected her fourth double-double of the season with a 16-rebound, 15-point effort.
Tonight’s victory marks the program’s first win as a top-10 ranked team since the 2006-07 season. The last time Vandy posted a victory while being ranked in the top 10 came in the 2007 SEC Tournament Championship game, when the then No. 9 Dores posted a 51-45 victory over LSU in Duluth, Georgia, to win the program’s fifth SEC Tournament title.
It’s Vanderbilt’s first win as a top-10 team at Memorial Gym in over 18 years. The last time the Dores posted a victory as a top-10 team came on Dec. 15, 2007, when Vandy knocked off Austin Peay, 84-50.
Both teams traded blows over the first quarter and a half, as Missouri clung to a 35-34 lead after a 3-point field goal at the 3:34 mark of the second stanza. Vanderbilt closed the frame on a 14-2 run to take a double-digit lead into the half at 48-37. Vandy extended its lead throughout the final two quarters, as the Dores led by as many as 36 points before securing the 31-point victory over Missouri.
The Commodores shot 50.6 percent from the floor in the victory. Vanderbilt held a 54-22 edge in points in the paint and won the rebounding battle 43-32. The Dores forced Missouri into 24 turnovers, which Vandy turned into 37 points off turnovers.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Win
“I probably sound like a broken record by this point, but I thought it was a great team win. We didn’t start well, and we had to grind it out a little bit in the beginning, but that’s basketball. Every night is not going to be your night. If you have a great team, then you don’t have to worry about that, because it might be someone else’s night. Our energy and attitudes can’t change, and we have to play team basketball to accomplish the things we want to accomplish this year.
I’m really proud of this team, because they haven’t been in the position they were in tonight. We upset a top-five team for the first time since I’ve been here on Sunday. Then we turned around and played another game on Thursday. You wonder what that’s going to look like, and I thought they did a really good job at taking care of business on our home court. We’ll take a 30-point SEC win any day of the week.”
Up Next
The No. 7/6 Commodores now take to the road for three-straight games. The extended excursion begins on Sunday, as Vanderbilt travels to Texas A&M for a Sunday afternoon contest that tips off at 2 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.
Dore Notes
- Vanderbilt continues its second-best start in program history, as the Commodores have now won 16-straight games to open the 2025-26 campaign
- The Dores are now one win short of matching the best start in program history, which is currently held by the 1992-93 Final Four team, who opened that season at 17-0
- The Commodores have now won three-straight games vs. Missouri for the first time in the series against the Tigers
- Vandy posts its first victory over Missouri at Memorial Gym for the first time since the 2012-13 season, snapping a six-game skid
- Vanderbilt is now 6-10 all-time vs. Mizzou and 2-6 in games that take place in Nashville
- Sophomore Mikayla Blakes has scored in double figures in every game this season, extending her double-digiting scoring streak to 35 games, which is the second-longest streak by a Dore in school history and fourth-longest active streak in NCAA
- Freshman Aubrey Galvan scored in double-digits for the third straight game, seven of which helped lift the Commodores to a 14-2 run in the final three minutes of the first half
- Galvan also had five takeaways, extending her steal streak to four straight, and has had at least five steals in four games this season
- Sacha Washington pulled down 16 rebounds, the most in a game by a Dore this season
- Eight of those came on the defensive end, the most defensive rebounds by the graduate this season. It marks the first time a Commodore collected at least 15 rebounds since March of 2025
- Washington collected her fourth double-double of the season, 26th career, with her second 15-point performance of the year
- Justine Pissott recorded her fourth game of the season with 15 points
- Pissott grabbed seven rebounds, the most since setting her season high against BYU
- Graduate Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda registered three steals, tying her season high in a single game
- All five starters scored in double-figures, just the second time this season (vs. South Florida)
- Tonight’s win marks the program’s first as an AP Top 10 team since winning the 2007 SEC Tournament Championship game as the No. 9-ranked team vs. LSU on March 4, 2007
- It’s also the program’s first regular season win as an AP Top 10 team since Dec. 22, 2006, at UT Martin (101-77)
- It’s the Commodore’s first home win as a top 10 AP team since Dec. 15, 2007, over Austin Peay (84-50)
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