Road Trip Concludes in the Bayou

Vanderbilt heads to No. 6/4 LSU for a Monday matchup on SEC Network

(RV/RV) Vanderbilt (14-3, 1-2 SEC) at No. 6/4 LSU (18-0, 3-0 SEC)
Monday, Jan. 13, 2025 6 p.m. CT

Pete Maravich Assembly Center • Baton Rouge, La. • SEC Network
94.9 The Fan • Vanderbilt Athletics AppLive StatsGame Notes

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball concludes its brief two-game SEC road trip on Monday, as the Commodores take on No. 6/4 LSU. Tipoff from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center is set for 6 p.m. and airs live on SEC Network.

Starting Five
>> Vandy heads to Baton Rouge looking to end a two-game skid, as the Dores recently dropped an 87-59 decision at Ole Miss on Thursday. Freshman Mikayla Blakes scored a team-best 19 points, while senior Iyana Moore registered 14 points to push her double-digit scoring streak to 10 games. Sophomore Khamil Pierre’s 11 points vs. the Rebels extended her double-digit scoring streak to 19 games, the longest by a Dore since 2013-14.

>> Despite Thursday’s loss at Ole Miss, Vanderbilt has won four of its last five SEC road games. Additionally, the Dores have won seven of their last eight true road games dating back to last season. Vandy won a program-record six SEC road games last season.

>> Monday’s contest will feature a battle between the highest-scoring duos in the SEC this season. Sophomore Khamil Pierre (22.1 ppg) and freshman Mikayla Blakes (20.5 ppg) average 42.1 points per game this season for Vanderbilt, while LSU’s Flau’Jae Johnson (19.7 ppg) and Aneesah Morrow (18.4 ppg) are putting up 40.5 points per game. Pierre and Blakes are the only pair of teams in all of NCAA Division I to average over 20 points this season.

>> Monday’s matchup between the Commodores and Tigers will be the 54th meeting all-time between the schools. LSU holds the all-time series lead at 27-26 and has won each of the last eight contests. The Dores are 0-4 against LSU in the Ralph era.

>> Vanderbilt is 4-18 all-time in Baton Rouge against LSU. The last Commodore victory in Oxford came on Feb. 19, 2004, when Vandy collected a 61-55 win.

Game Coverage
Monday’s contest at No. 6/4 LSU airs live on SEC Network via the Watch ESPN app, with Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck calling the action. Fans can listen to Jake Lyman locally on 94.9 The Fan and the Vanderbilt Commodores app outside of Nashville. Fans can also follow along via live stats.

NET Ranking
Vanderbilt enters Monday holding a NET ranking of 21. The Commodores came in at No. 7 in the first NET ranking of the 2024-25 season, the highest NET ranking in program history. The NET is an evaluation tool the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses to determine seeding and at-large bids.

Receiving Votes
The Dores earned 18 votes in this week’s Associate Press Top 25 Poll and 16 votes in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll. It marks the sixth-straight week that Vanderbilt has been featured in both major college women’s basketball polls.

Moore Moving Up
Senior Iyana Moore is moving up rapidly on Vanderbilt’s 1,000-point and all-time 3-pointers made list. The guard comes into Monday in a tie for ninth on Vandy’s all-time 3-point made field goal list with 173, matching Paige Redman’s (1996-99) total. She is seven trifectas away from moving past Michelle Palmisano (179; 1995-97) for eighth in school history.

Additionally, Moore’s 1,118 career points rank 29th all-time in Commodore women’s basketball history. She is 15 points away from moving into 28th, which is currently occupied by Jence Rhoads (1,132; 2008-11) and 17 points shy from passing Jillian Danker (1,134; 1999-02) for 27th on the list.

Blakes Leading the Freshmen
First-year guard Mikayla Blakes is making an early case for national freshman of the year consideration. The 5-8 guard enters the weekend leading all NCAA Division I freshmen in scoring (20.5 ppg), points scored (348), steals (45), and field goals made (122). She was also the first freshman in NCAA Division I to hit the 100-, 200-, and 300-point marks this season.

Additionally, the guard ranks inside the top 10 among all freshmen in 11 different categories. Blakes is the only player to rank in the top 10 freshmen nationally in points scored (1st; 348), steals (1st; 45), 3-point field goals made (4th; 39), and assists (8th; 56).

The Somerset, New Jersey, native has won SEC Freshman of the Week three times. Blakes and Georgia Tech’s Dani Carnegie are the only Power 4 players to win their conference’s weekly freshman award three or more times this season.

Khamil Among the Nation’s Best
Sophomore Khamil Pierre enters the weekend ranked second all in NCAA Division I in double-doubles with 11 and field goals made with 153.

The 6-2 forward ranks in the top 10 nationally in six categories. She is the only NCAA Division I player to rank in the top 10 in scoring (8th; 22.1) and steals per game (8th; 3.38).

Double-Double Machine
Khamil Pierre is second in NCAA Division I with 11 double-doubles entering the week. She is one of five players nationally to collect 10 or more double-doubles during the 2024-25 season. Pierre’s 11 double-doubles this season are the second-most in a single-season in program history. The school record is 14 double-doubles collected by current assistant coach Ashley Earley in the 2004-05 season.

Lending a Hand
The Commodores rank 18th nationally in assists per game at 18.3. Vanderbilt handed out a season-best 30 assists against Alabama A&M on Dec. 29. The Dores have dished out 20 or more assists in seven games this season.

The Dores are also 13th in the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio at 1.37, the third-best in the SEC. Graduate Jordyn Oliver is 12th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio at 3.00, while her 4.1 assists per game ranks seventh in the SEC.

No Sophomore Slump for Khamil
Khamil Pierre continues to shine in her second season with the Commodores. Her 22.1 points per game average is a 13.2-point improvement from her freshman scoring average of 8.9 points per game. It is the largest improvement in scoring average by a Power 4 player this season and the third-largest in all of NCAA Division I.

Scouting the Tigers
No. 6/4 LSU comes into Monday at 18-0 and 3-0 in SEC play. The Tigers are riding the nation’s longest winning streak at 18 games. LSU stands inside the top 10 in both major collegiate women’s basketball polls, checking in at No. 6 in the Associate Press Top 25 and No. 4 in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll. The Tigers are ninth in the most recent NET rankings.

Junior Flau’Jae Johnson’s 19.7 points per game pace a quartet of double-digit scorers for LSU. Fellow junior Aneesah Morrow is averaging a double-double at 18.4 points and 14.4 rebounds per game, as her 16 double-doubles lead the nation. Sophomore Mikaylah Williams (15.9 ppg) and Kailyn Gilbert (11.9 ppg) round out the group.

The Tigers are putting up 91.6 points per game through 18 games this season. LSU is shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 33.6 percent on 3-point field goals. Defensively, teams are putting up 61.3 points per game against LSU while shooting 34.4 percent from the floor and 26.8 percent from behind the arc.

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