AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 24/24-ranked Vanderbilt women’s basketball team dropped an 87-66 decision on Thursday night at No. 4/6 Texas.
Sophomore Khamil Pierre and freshman Mikayla Blakes each had a 20-plus point performance against the Longhorns. Pierre registered a team-high 26 points, while Blakes added 22 points. It is the 12th time this season that Pierre and Blakes have scored 20-plus points in the same game.
Pierre scored 20-plus points for the second-straight contest, as she had 24 points her last time out vs. Ole Miss. It is the 14th game that the 6-2 forward has scored 20 or more points in a game this season, while Pierre has now scored 10-plus points in 25 of her last 26 games dating back to last season. The sophomore added a team-high seven rebounds, five of which were offensive caroms. It is the sixth SEC game this season that Pierre has scored 20 or more points.
Blakes, the three-time reigning USBWA Tamika Catchings Freshman of the Week, has now registered 20 or more points in seven SEC games. The guard also extended her double-digit scoring streak to 10 games. It is Blakes’ 15th game this season scoring 20 or more points.
Graduate student Jordyn Oliver dished out a team-high four assists and collected a team-best four steals in her return to her home state. It is the 16th time this season that Oliver has handed out three or more assists.
With the loss, No. 24/24 Vanderbilt falls to 18-6 overall and is now an even 5-5 in SEC play. Meanwhile, No. 4/6 Texas improves to 23-2 and 9-1 in league play.
Vanderbilt ran into a hot-shooting Longhorn squad, as Texas shot 52.8 percent from the floor. Texas made 69.2 percent of its shots from behind the arc, as the No. 4/6-ranked team in the country made nine 3-pointers. The Commodores shot 38.6 percent from the floor and outrebounded Texas, 33-30. Vandy’s advantage on the glass led to a 21-13 edge in second-chance points for Vandy. Texas led for over 37 minutes of game time on Thursday.
How It Happened
Blakes got the scoring started with a jumper at the 8:04 mark in the first quarter. Texas answered with a 7-2 spurt to take the lead. A Blakes layup made it a 7-6 contest before the Longhorns tallied seven-consecutive points to take an eight-point advantage. Senior Iyana Moore brought the Texas run to an end with a 3-pointer, and graduate student Jane Nwaba added a free throw to pull the Dores within four points at 14-10 with 3:12 left to play in the frame. The Longhorns ended the opening stanza with their second 7-0 run in the quarter to take a 21-10 after 10 minutes of play.
Vanderbilt cut its deficit to single digits by scoring the first three points of the second. Texas scored six of the game’s next eight points to take a 27-15 lead into the media break. The Longhorns registered the first four points out of the media timeout to double up the Dores at 30-15. Blakes responded with six-straight points of her own to bring Vanderbilt back to within single digits at 30-21 with 1:55 left before halftime. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Texas pushed its lead back out to 15 points, but Blakes ended the stanza with a layup to make it a 38-25 contest going into the locker room.
The Commodores came out halftime on an 8-2 run to pull within seven points of the Longhorns at 40-33. The two teams traded blows from that point, as Texas held a 49-38 advantage going into the media break. A 3-pointer by Pierre sparked a 6-0 run for the Dores that pulled them to within five points at 49-44 with less than four minutes remaining in the frame. Four consecutive free throws from Texas pushed its advantage back to double-digits at 56-46. Vanderbilt’s deficit remained at double figures for the remainder of the third, as Texas held a 63-59 lead going into the night’s final frame.
Vandy once again used an 8-2 run early in the fourth quarter to make it a nine-point game at 67-58 with 5:06 left to play. Texas rolled off eight-straight points from there to regain a double-digit advantage. The Longhorns maintained a double-figure lead for the remainder of the contest, posting a 21-point victory over the Dores.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Result
“I think [Texas head coach] Vic [Schaefer] has done an incredible job with the atmosphere here, it was an awesome game to play in. His team is tough, so credit to them. I thought we battled for large portions of the game, and the thing that became apparent to me is we got a little exposed offensively. It felt like we stopped moving with the way they were playing aggressive defensively and getting out into passing lanes, their pressure gave us some problems. It was more us losing our composure and poise than anything else. There were big moments where I felt like we were just starting to close the gap, and then bam, bam, bam it’s back into mid-double digits as a result of some turnovers and a little bit too much one on one, and some missed opportunities where I felt like we made poor decisions in transition or we didn’t get what we were looking for in terms of a great shot.
“Defensively we played pretty tough for the most part, but there were moments where we would have miscommunication and a lack of poise and composure and give up a wide-open shot to Madison Booker, a wide-open three or we would foul. There’s a lot that we can learn from today. I don’t think the score indicates the kind of game that we played, so I am proud of my team in that way. I’m not a moral victory coach, there was some exposure in terms of the things that we need to improve on that I think will really help us over the next week that we have.”
Up Next
No. 24/24 Vanderbilt returns to Memorial Gymnasium next Thursday as the Commodores welcome in Mississippi State. Tipoff against the Bulldogs is set for 8 p.m., and airs live on SEC Network.
Dore Notes
- Sophomore Khamil Pierre collected 20-plus points for the second-straight game with a 26-point outing
- Pierre has now scored double figures in 25 of her last 26 games
- It is Pierre’s 14th outing with 20-plus points this season and her sixth SEC contest with 20 or more points
- Freshman Mikayla Blakes registered double-digit points for the 10-straight game with a 22-point performance
- It is Blakes’ second double-digit scoring streak of 10-plus games this season, as she opened 2024-25 with 13-straight games scoring 10 or more points
- Blakes scores 20-plus points for the 15th time this season
- It is Blakes’ seventh SEC scoring 20 or more points
- Vanderbilt’s four-game winning streak vs. Texas came to an end
- The Commodores and Longhorns faced off for the first time in over 29 years on Thursday, as their last meeting took place on Dec. 29, 1996 in Nashville
- The Dores are now 4-2 all-time vs. Texas
- Vandy is now 2-3 vs. ranked teams the year
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