NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Freshman Khamil Pierre came up big for the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team down the stretch, as the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week helped the Commodores secure a 53-50 win over Auburn Thursday at Memorial Gymnasium.
Pierre scored six points over the final three minutes of play, as she went 4-of-6 at the free throw line down the stretch and collected the game-sealing steal with four seconds left to help Vanderbilt mount a comeback win over the Tigers. The freshman scored a career-high 17 points, as she extended her double-digit scoring streak to three games. The forward also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to record her second-consecutive double-double.
Thursday’s contest was a battle throughout, as the game featured 17 lead changes and eight lead changes. Neither team led by more than five points over the final three-quarters of play.
The win improves Vanderbilt’s record to 17-2 overall on the year and 4-1 in SEC play.
Junior Iyana Moore also registered double-digit points, as the Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native tallied 12 points. Moore went 5-of-5 at the free throw line, as she has now hit 24 consecutive free throws over the last five games.
The Commodores shot 38.3 percent from the floor in the win, while the Dores limited Auburn to 35.6 percent field goal percentage. In total, Auburn led for over 25 minutes of game time on Thursday, while the Dores only led for nearly nine minutes of game play.
Vanderbilt got off to a cold start offensively, as the Commodores missed their first six shots of the game to allow Auburn to jump out to a 9-0 advantage. Pierre got the Dores on the board with a jumper out of the media break to make it a 9-2 game. After Pierre’s jumper, Vanderbilt kept the Tigers off the scoreboard over the final 4:30 of the first quarter, as the Dores were able to make it a one-possession game at 9-6 going into the second stanza.
Pierre would knot the game up at 11-all after a layup in transition with 6:45 left to play before halftime. Junior Sacha Washington gave the Dores their first lead of the game at the 5:50 mark in the second, as she converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play that gave Vanderbilt a 14-13 advantage. The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the second quarter, as Auburn took a slim 23-22 lead into the locker room.
The Dores came out of the halftime break on fire, as Vanderbilt scored the first five points of the third quarter to take a 27-23 lead after a 3-pointer from Cambridge. Auburn rolled off six-straight points after Cambridge’s 3-point field goal to reclaim a 29-27 lead. The two teams traded buckets for the remainder of the frame, as the Tigers went into the fourth quarter holding a 41-40 advantage.
The Commodores and Tigers continued to trade the lead through the first four minutes of the fourth quarter until Auburn rolled off four-straight points to give the Tigers a 45-42 lead with 6:08 left to play. Vanderbilt continued to battle, as Pierre tied the game up at 48-all with a free throw at the 2:47 mark. The freshman came up clutch again at the charity stripe just seconds later, as Pierre sank a pair of free throws to pull the Commodores even with Auburn at 50-50 with 1:21 left to play. After getting a defensive stop, Vanderbilt was able to claim the lead for good, as Pierre hit a layup with 33 seconds remaining to give the Dores a 52-50 lead. Pierre would go on to steal a pass with four seconds left on the clock, then drilled a free throw with two seconds left to secure the come-from-behind win for the Dores.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Win
“It is extremely important to figure out how to grind out games when things aren’t going your way. I felt like that happened the other day and we gave it away. For whatever reason, we weren’t able to do. We knew we had to work on a lot of stuff coming out of that game, but our defense was solid today. When we play defense like we did today, it doesn’t matter who we play. We’ll always have a chance to win the game. The other things will come along, and we will continue to work on that as we go along. I’m really proud of my team for staying the course, leaning in on defense and making plays at the end to get us a win.”
Up Next
Vanderbilt returns to action Sunday when the Commodores make the trip east to Knoxville to take on Tennessee. Tipoff against the Lady Volunteers is set for 2 p.m. CT and will stream live on SEC Network.
Dores Notes
- Vanderbilt is now 17-2 this season, which is the second-best start to a season in program history. The Dores’ best start to a season came during the 1992-93 season when Vandy was 18-1 through 19 games
- Vanderbilt collected its fourth SEC win this season. At 4-1, it is off to its best start in conference play since the 2013-14 season.
- The Commodores held the Tigers to just 50 points, the lowest number of points scored by an SEC opponent during the Shea Ralph era.
- Jordyn Cambridge had three assists in Thursday’s game. She has now recorded at least one assist in 57 straight contests. She has also dished out at least three assists in 16 games this season and 74 games in her career
- Cambridge collected three steals against Auburn. She has tallied at least three steals in 16 of 19 games this season
- Iyanna Moore went five-for-five from the free-throw line Sunday. She is a perfect 19-for-19 in free-throw shooting against SEC opponents this season
- Freshman Khamil Pierre extends her double-digit scoring streak to three games with a 17-point performance vs. Auburn
- Pierre’s 17 points vs. Auburn sets her new career high for most points in a game
- It is Pierre’s sixth game with 10 or more points this season
- It is also Pierre’s second-straight double-double, as she pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with her 17 points against Auburn
- Junior Iyana Moore’s 12-point effort marks her 11th game this season scoring double-digit points
- Graduate student Jordyn Cambridge recorded her 59th career game with three or more steals with three steals vs. Auburn
- Junior Sacha Washington’s four blocks are the most blocks she has collected against an SEC team this season
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