Mikayla Blakes of Vanderbilt women’s basketball broke the single-game scoring record for a Division I freshman as well as the SEC single-game scoring record for the second time this season as she put up 55 points in the Commodores’ 98-88, overtime win over Auburn at Neville Arena.
Blakes had 44 points in regulation, including making three free throws with 0.9 seconds left to send the game to overtime. During the extra period, Blakes had 11 of Vanderbilt’s 14 points.
“Going through my mind was just to make them, pressure builds diamonds,” Blakes said of her free throws at the end of regulation. “So I think in those moments, you can’t crumble. You have to be confident in yourself. And my teammates were confident in me. They told me that I got this and that sort of let the butterflies go.”
The Commodores (19-7, 6-6 SEC) overcame a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win the game. It was the second-largest comeback win for Vanderbilt since 1999-00.
Blakes went 15-for-28 from the field and 23-for-24 from the free-throw line, with her lone miss coming on her final attempt at the end of overtime. She also put up five rebounds and five assists. This came after she put up just 10 points and fouled out of a double overtime loss to Mississippi State on Thursday.
“A lot of times freshmen aren’t put in the position she’s put in every day to have to learn these things on the court, in front of people, and have all kinds of different, I’m guessing, for her, layers of pressure behind that. But she was built for it. And I think that she came and had a different mindset today”
Previously, Blakes set the NCAA Division I true freshman and SEC record with a 53-point performance at Florida on Jan. 30.
Khamil Pierre also had 19 points in the win.
SHEA RALPH AS A PARENT Mikayla Blakes breaks records again with 55-point performance in Vanderbilt basketball win over Auburn
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Mikayla Blakes breaks own scoring record in Vanderbilt’s win over Auburn
