WBCA Honors Trio of Dores

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On Thursday, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) honored three members of the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team, as freshman Mikayla Blakes and sophomore Khamil Pierre were named to the WBCA All-America honorable mention team and head coach Shea Ralph was selected a finalist for WBCA Coach of the Year.

For Blakes, it is the seventh publication to bestow All-America honors to the freshman, while it is Pierre’s first career All-America selection. Vanderbilt’s dynamic duo was the only pair of teammates to average 20-plus points per game this season, as Blakes led the team at 23.3 points per game, while Pierre put up 20.4 points per contest.

Ralph, who just completed her fourth season with the Commodores, was named a WBCA Coach of the Year finalist for the first time in her career. The fourth-year head coach led the Dores to their second-straight NCAA Tournament selection in 2024-25, as Vanderbilt went 22-11 overall. The 22 wins mark the first time since the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons that the Dores posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns.

Blakes and Pierre become the first Vanderbilt teammates to earn All-America status in the same season since 2006-07, when Dee Davis and Carla Thomas were All-America honorable mention selections by the Associated Press and the WBCA. Blakes and Pierre are the 19th and 20th Commodores to be named an All-American in program history.

The Somerset, New Jersey, native took the nation by storm in her freshman season. She was named the 2024-25 WBCA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Year and was selected as the SEC Freshman of the Year by the SEC coaches and the SEC Newcomer of the Year by USA Today. In addition, Blakes was named All-SEC first team by both the coaches and USA Today.

Blakes’ 23.3 points per game average is the eighth-best scoring average in NCAA Division I this season, while it leads all freshmen nationally. The guard ranked in the top 20 nationally in six categories. Her 26.9 points per game average in SEC play led the league, as she scored 30 or more points in five SEC contests. She rewrote the NCAA, SEC and Vanderbilt record books multiple times this season. Her 55-point performance at Auburn on Feb. 16 set the NCAA freshman single-game and SEC single-game scoring records. She previously set the SEC single-game and NCAA true freshman scoring records on Jan. 30 with a 53-point effort at Florida. Blakes also set the Vanderbilt single-game scoring record on three separate occasions this season.

Pierre was the only NCAA Division I player this season to average over 20.0 points and 9.5 rebounds. Additionally, Pierre is the only player in the country to rank inside the top 20 nationally in scoring (19th; 20.4 ppg) and steals per game (14th; 2.94).

The 6-2 forward collected 17 double-doubles this season, which ranked 14th nationally and were the most by a Commodore in a single season since 1999-00. Her 273 made field goals led the SEC and were ninth-most nationally. Pierre improved her scoring average by 11.9 points per game from her freshman season. Pierre registered 20-plus points in 16 games this season and collected three or more steals in 17 contests.

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