NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 23/23-ranked Vanderbilt women’s basketball team had its four-game winning streak come to an end on Sunday, as the Commodores dropped a 76-61 decision to Ole Miss (RV/–) at Memorial Gymnasium.
The Commodores fell victim to a hot-shooting Ole Miss team for the second time in 24 days, as the Rebels shot 54.2 percent from the field on Sunday. A pair of elongated runs Mississippi put the game out of reach. An 18-6 run in the second quarter turned a one-point Ole Miss lead into a 13-point advantage before halftime. Vanderbilt cut its deficit to single digits early in the third quarter at 36-27, but a 10-2 spurt by the Rebels extended their lead back out to double figures for the remainder of the contest.
With the loss, Vanderbilt’s four-game win streak comes to an end. It was Vandy’s longest stretch of consecutive SEC wins since the 2011-12 campaign. The Commodores are now 18-5 overall and 5-4 in league games.
No. 23 Vandy had a trio of double-digit scorers on Sunday, led by sophomore Khamil Pierre’s 24 points. The 6-2 forward shot 61.8 percent (11-of-18) from the field and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Her 24-point performance marks the 24th time over the last 25 games that Pierre has scored double-digits.
Mikayla Blakes followed her record-setting 53-point performance on Thursday at Florida with a 16-point effort against Ole Miss. Blakes, who was battling foul trouble in the first half and only played in 10 minutes over the first two quarters, scored 13 of her points over the final two quarters. The freshman extends her double-digit scoring streak to nine games, as Blakes averaged 34.5 points per game over a pair of contests this week.
Senior Iyana Moore rounded out the group of double-digit scorers for the Dores with 10 points. It was the eighth time that Moore has tallied double figures in nine SEC games.
The Commodores shot 46.9 percent from the field on Sunday. The Rebels outrebounded Vanderbilt 32-23, which led to a 21-5 edge in second-chance points for Ole Miss.
How It Happened
It was a tightly contested opening 10 minutes, as the frame featured three ties and two lead changes. Neither team held more than a 3-point advantage in the first quarter, as Ole Miss held a 12-11 advantage going into the second stanza.
Ole Miss opened the second by scoring eight of the quarter’s first 10 points to take a 20-13 lead over the Dores, forcing Vanderbilt to call a timeout at the 6:13 mark. Another Ole Miss bucket out of the break made it a nine-point Rebel lead, but a 3-pointer from sophomore Madison Greene cut Vanderbilt’s deficit to six points at 24-18. Ole Miss went on an 8-1 run to extend its lead out to double-digit at 32-19 in the closing seconds of the frame. Greene hit a buzzer-beater a step inside the 3-point line to pull the Dores within 11 points going into halftime.
Vanderbilt cut its deficit to single digits early in the third, as a personal 4-0 run by Blakes made it a 36-27 contest. Ole Miss answered with a 10-2 spurt to take a game-high 17-point lead at 46-29 with 5:26 left in the frame. Blakes scored the next five Vanderbilt points to bring the Commodores within 14 points. Five-consecutive points from the Rebels pushed the Vandy deficit to 18 points, but a pair of Blakes free throws at the end of the quarter made it a 57-41 contest going into the fourth.
Ole Miss extended its lead to 20 points midway through the fourth quarter and kept the Dores at bay for the remainder of the contest.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Result
“I’m disappointed, not so much in that we lost the game but because I don’t think we played our best. Usually, I like to win every game – I don’t know if that is reasonable, you’re never going to win every single game – but I don’t like to lose. I like to play our best and have people play a little better to beat us, then you learn some things and you have to get better. Today, I thought there were moments and flashes, especially toward the end, where we played more like ourselves; where we were more aggressive, where we were moving more, where we were meeting and matching their physicality.
“Before that, I thought we were just unwilling. That’s not tactical, that’s not a lack of size, that’s not a lack of scoring ability, that’s not a lack of anything on my roster. That to me is possibly a lack of preparation – I’ll take that, we have to prepare better – and the willingness to do it when it’s hard. And I think that goes back to preparation.
“So, what can we take away from that feeling? We have to do a better job preparing, and in those moments, we have to match physicality. We have to be willing to do that, willing to make extra third, fourth, and fifth plays. Willing to do whatever it takes to keep them off the backboard. Willing to do whatever it takes to keep them out of the paint for multiple shot opportunities, to not foul, and to put them on the free-throw line. And then to play our style of basketball on the offensive end, which is moving the ball, cutting, flashing, taking opportunities when people are physical and when they overplay, so that we get wide-open layups. Then we stack possessions that way, with a willingness to match aggression and physicality no matter how the game is being called.
“It’s not going to get any easier for us. I think we’ve had a lot of growth this year; I think we are capable. We’ve already seen it. So now we have to get back to the drawing board, figure out why we didn’t do it today, and move forward so that when we go down to Texas in just a few days – where we’re going to see very similar physicality – we are much better prepared and much more willing.”
Up Next
The No. 23-ranked Commodores head back out on the road on Thursday, as Vanderbilt heads to No. 5/7 Texas. Tipoff against the Longhorns is set for 8 p.m., and airs live on SEC Network.
Dore Notes
- Khamil Pierre totaled 24 points today, marking 24 of the last 25 games with 10-plus points and her 13th contest with 20-plus points this year
- The sophomore finished 11-of-18 from the field, the most made field goals since Vandy’s visit to LSU
- It is Pierre’s 10th game this season with 10-plus made field goals
- Pierre finished with three steals, marking the fourth straight game with 3-plus takeaways
- Mikayla Blakes has tallied double-figure points in nine-straight contests with 16 points,
- It is Blakes’ 22nd career game reaching double-digit points
- Blakes dished one assist, marking 23-straight games with at least one assist for the freshman
- Jordyn Oliver also registered three steals, the ninth time this season with multiple steals
- Iyana Moore added 10 points for the Commodores, the 18th 10-plus performance of the season for the senior
- Vandy snaps its four-game winning streak and has lost the last five matchups against Ole Miss
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