SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The No. 8-ranked Vanderbilt women’s basketball team dropped its first contest of the 2026-27 season on Sunday, as the Commodores fell to No. 10/13-ranked Iowa at Tyson Events Center as part of the Bad Boy Mowers Series.
The Dores briefly led in the opening stages of Sunday’s contest, but Iowa used a 17-4 run over two minutes in the first quarter to take a double-digit lead the Hawkeyes never relinquished. Vanderbilt fought back in the second half, outscoring Iowa 45-36, but it wasn’t enough to erase the early deficit.
The loss puts No. 8 Vandy at 4-1 overall on the year, while No. 10/13 Iowa is now also 4-1.
Junior Mikayla Blakes the Dores with a game-high 20-point performance. It is the third time this season that the guard has scored 20 or more points in a contest. Blakes also pushes her double-figure scoring streak to 58 games, which is the third-longest active streak in NCAA Division I.
Blakes led a trio of Commodores who tallied double-digit points on Sunday. Junior Mia Woolfolk registered 19 points to push her double-digit scoring streak to 18 games. Sophomore Aubrey Galvan tallied 15 points and handed out team-best four assists. Galvan has now scored 10-plus points in nine consecutive contests.
Vanderbilt posted a 35.7 field goal percentage, while Iowa shot 43.5 percent from the floor. The Hawkeyes held a 21-5 advantage in points off the bench. The Dores forced Iowa into 14 miscues, which led to 15 Vandy points off turnovers.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Result
“Disappointed in the result. I’m really impressed with Iowa; they played really hard. This is a great environment to play a game like this. The seats were packed. This was a great example of what we would love to have at Vanderbilt. I love that our players were able to experience this environment this early in the season. It was fun. Obviously not the result we wanted, but I think we got better today. Hats off to Iowa. They played a better basketball game than we did, and it gives us a lot to look at.”
Up Next
The No. 8-ranked Commodores return to Memorial Gymnasium Wednesday, as Vanderbilt welcomes North Alabama. Tipoff against the Lions is set for 6:30 p.m. CT, and streams live on SEC Network+.
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Dore Notes
- Mikayla Blakes extended her double-digit scoring streak to 58 games, which is the third-longest active streak by an NCAA Division I player
- Mia Woolfolk pushed her double-digit scoring streak to 18 games
- Aubrey Galvan has now tallied 10-plus points in nine consecutive contests
- Vanderbilt is now 4-1 vs. Iowa all-time
- Vandy has now won 24 of its last 25 regular-season games against nonconference foes
- The Dores are now 67-21 vs. non-SEC teams under head coach Shea Ralph
- Vanderbilt is 47-6 over the last four seasons vs. nonconference teams
- Today’s game marked the first of 16 nationally televised contests for the Dores this season