Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes Collects Multiple National Awards Following Win Over LSU
Blakes Earns National Spotlight As Vanderbilt Rises In the Rankings
It has been a great start to the week for the Vanderbilt Commodores women’s basketball team. After their 65-61 upset win over then No. 5 LSU, the nation has taken notice of the squad in Nashville, Tennessee.
Mikayla Blakes has been “her” for quite some time, but sometimes it takes a nationally televised performance with 32 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, to really bring the recognition she deserves. In back to back SEC wins over Arkansas and LSU last week, Blakes averaged 33.5 points, 6.0 assists, and 3.0 steals per game.
Blakes has since received multiple national honors. She earned National Player of the Week recognition from the Naismith Trophy, the Associated Press, and the United States Basketball Writers Association. She was also named SEC Co Player of the Week and the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Women’s Basketball Player of the Week.
Coach Shea Ralph spoke on Mikayla Blakes during media availability at the Huber Center practice court, and she took the opportunity to shine a light on her star guard.
“A player like Mikayla is transformational. She is. You know, her belief in our program, her belief in herself, the fact that she decided to come here for all the right reasons and is taking advantage of what we have to offer her here on and off the basketball court, is capitalizing on every opportunity to prove how good she is and how good we are. And then she continues to get better. Those players don’t come along a lot. Not only does she do that for herself, but she does it for our team.”
The Commodores are now ranked inside the Top 10 at No. 7 and No. 6 in the AP Poll and the USA Today WBCA Coaches Poll. Mikayla Blakes was not the only Commodore recognized, as Aubrey Galvan earned SEC Co Freshman of the Week after averaging 14 points per game with 3.4 assists and 3 steals per game. Galvan was huge on Sunday, giving the Commodores another scoring threat in the win over LSU.
Now the attention has turned toward Mizzou. The ‘Dores enjoyed their big win, then got right back to work preparing for the next SEC opponent coming into Memorial Gymnasium on Thursday night. The Tigers, coached by Kelly Harper, are 12-5 on the season with an 0-2 mark in SEC play after falling to Kentucky 74 to 52 on Sunday. Stay tuned to Mays Sports Media, for more coverage of the Vanderbilt Commodores.
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