Open Announce
Open Search
Women's Basketball

SEC's Best Backcourt

Mikayla Blakes earned SEC Player of the Year, while Aubrey Galvan was named SEC Freshman of the Year

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The nation’s best backcourt was honored with a pair of individual SEC postseason awards on Tuesday, as the league office announced that Mikayla Blakes has been named SEC Player of the Year and Aubrey Galvan was selected as SEC Freshman of the Year.

Blakes becomes the school’s second SEC Player of the Year winner, joining Chantelle Anderson, who won the award in 2001-02. Galvan is the fourth Dore to be named SEC Freshman of the Year, as she is the second-straight Vandy player to win the award.

In addition to their individual awards, Blakes was named first-team All-SEC for the second consecutive season, while Galvan earned a spot on the All-SEC freshman team.

With head coach Shea Ralph’s selection as SEC Coach of the Year, Vanderbilt becomes just the fourth school to have an SEC Coach of the Year, SEC Player of the Year, and a SEC Freshman of the Year winner in the same season. as the Commodores join Tennessee (1997-98, 2010-11, 2012-13), Kentucky (2009-10) and South Carolina (2013-14).

Mikayla Blakes – SEC Player of the Year
Sophomore Mikayla Blakes’ prolific 2025-26 season earned her the school’s second-ever SEC Player of the Year honor. She joins Chantelle Anderson, who won the award in 2001-02, to earn the conference’s top individual honor for a player.

The guard averaged 27.1 points, 4.6 assists and 2.9 steals per game. Blakes shot 46.6 percent from the floor and held a 36.1 percent success rate from behind the arc in 2025-26. Her 27.1 points per game led NCAA Division I in scoring, as her 12 games with 30-plus points this season were the most by a player in the country.

In addition to her SEC Player of the Year selection, Blakes was named to the All-SEC first team for the second-straight season. She becomes just the second Vanderbilt player to begin their career with two consecutive All-SEC first team selections, joining Harriet Brumfield, who accomplished the feat in 1981-82 and 1982-83.

With her 2025-26 SEC Player of the Year selection, in addition to her 2024-25 SEC Freshman of the Year award, Blakes becomes the 13th player in conference history to earn both accolades during their career. The Vandy guard becomes the first player to accomplish the feat since South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, while Blakes is the first sophomore to win SEC Player of the Year since A’ja Wilson of South Carolina in 2015-16.

Blakes set the SEC ablaze this season. The All-American averaged 30.5 points per game, while shooting 46.9 percent from the floor and 39.8 percent from behind the arc in league games. The guard had 10 of her 12 30-point efforts in the SEC, which includes a season-high 38 points at Mississippi State on Jan. 15. Blakes scored double-digits in every game this season and is currently riding a 49-game double-digit scoring streak, which is the longest active streak in the SEC and third-longest in NCAA Division I.

The Somerset, New Jersey, native has been racking up the awards in 2025-26. Blake has been named the SEC Player of the Week a school-record six times this season, while she has been selected as the AP National Player of the Year on two occasions. She has been selected to the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Week team four times this season. Additionally, Blakes is a finalist for the Naismith Trophy Player of the Year, the Wooden Award, the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award.

Aubrey Galvan – SEC Freshman of the Year
Aubrey Galvan broke onto the scene in her first season at the collegiate level, as the point guard earned the school’s fourth SEC Freshman of the Year award. Galvan is the second-straight Commodore to earn the honor, as Mikayla Blakes captured the accolade last season.

The freshman averaged 12.9 points, 5.9 assists and 2.7 steals per game and held a 2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. Galvan led all freshmen nationally in assists (178) and assists per game (5.9), while her 81 steals were the most by a Power 4 freshman and ranked fourth overall.

The point guard was the only SEC freshman to score 30 points in a game this season, as she dropped 30 points on No. 10/11 Oklahoma at Memorial Gymnasium on Feb. 9. Galvan brought her best against ranked teams, as she averaged 17.9 points and 3.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game against top-25 foes.

Galvan had 5-plus assists in 20 games and recorded four games with 20-plus points this season. She handed out 10-plus assists in three games and had two double-doubles via points and assists. The Deerfield, Illinois, native got her collegiate career off to a historic start, as she became the first NCAA player this century to open her career with back-to-back games with 7-plus assists and 7-plus rebounds.

The point guard was named SEC Freshman of the Week five times this season. She averaged 14.8 points, 5.1 assists and 2.4 steals per game in SEC play. Galvan scored double-digit points in 11 games, while three of her 20-plus point performances came in league play.

Galvan joins Blakes (2024-25), Donna Harris (1989-90) and Wendy Scholtens (1987-88) as the only Commodores to be voted as SEC Freshman of the Year by the league’s coaches.

The No. 5/5 Commodores head to Greenville, South Carolina, this week for the 2026 SEC Tournament. Vanderbilt has secured the tournament’s No. 2 seed and will play in its first game at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Friday at 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

For more information and exclusive content on the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team, follow @VandyWBB on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter/X.

Powered by WMT Digital