NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Just two days after she scored the game-tying and game-winning baskets to lead Vanderbilt women’s basketball to its fourth straight home win, freshman Koi Love was named the SEC Freshman of the Week by the conference office Tuesday.
Love is Vanderbilt’s first conference Freshman of the Week since Erin Whalen earned the honor March 2, 2017.
A native of Orlando, Florida, Love scored three times in the final minutes to propel Vanderbilt (7-3) to a 75-69 win over Eastern Kentucky on Sunday. Love finished with a career-high 17 points, including six points in a game-winning 9-3 run for the Commodores who trailed 66-62 with under four minutes remaining before Love’s heroics.
Love missed a jump shot, grabbed her own rebound and put back the layup to tie the game at 69-69 with 1:48 to play. She then grabbed another offensive rebound and made the putback for a 71-69 lead with 49 seconds to play. It was the game winner.
Big bucket from the freshman! @koilove10 gives us the lead.
⚓️ 71
🔴 69
23.4 seconds left. #AnchorDown— Vanderbilt WBB (@VandyWBB) December 15, 2019
Love finished two rebounds shy of a double-double with a game-high 17 points on 7-for-13 (.538) shooting. In addition to eight rebounds, she added two blocks, one assist and one steal in the come-from-behind victory. The win helped Vanderbilt match last season’s win total in just 10 games this year and moved the Dores to 6-1 at home to start the season.
Love and the Commodores head to Seattle this week for the Husky Classic on Friday and Saturday. Vanderbilt will take on UC Irvine at 10 p.m. CT Friday and then face the host Washington Huskies at 6 p.m. CT Saturday. Both games can be seen on GoHuskies.com or heard on the Vanderbilt Radio Network.
#AnchorDown
