Dores Hold at Five After Record Setting Regular Season
Vanderbilt Stays at No. 5
Another AP Top 25 Women’s Basketball Poll, and the Vanderbilt Commodores stay put at number five. The Commodores have been a fixture at the five spot now for four consecutive weeks.
Coach Shea Ralph and the Dores wrapped up the regular season with a record of 27-3 (13-3 SEC), and have set several program bests to this point. After defeating the No. 24 Alabama Crimson Tide on Thursday night in Nashville, they stamped the program’s first undefeated home regular season at 16-0.
They also set the program record for most SEC wins in a season, with 12, and elevated that to 13 on Sunday with the program’s second ever win at Tennessee. Aubrey Galvan and Mikayla Blakes combined for 58 points to help take down the Lady Vols.
Speaking of Mikayla Blakes, she should be the front runner for both SEC Player of the Year and National Player of the Year. Thursday against No. 24 Alabama, she became the second player this century to record five straight 30-point games against ranked teams.
Blakes wrapped up regular season play with her 12th 30-point performance of the season on Sunday, and averaged 30.5 points per game in conference play. That made her the first SEC player this century to average that.
Overall, Blakes averaged 27.1 points per game in the regular season, adding 4.6 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.9 steals per game.
Galvan, the freshman point guard, is as unbothered as they come. Coach Ralph speaks on just letting her play freely and how everyone trusts her to run the show. Galvan’s fearless work has allowed Mikayla Blakes to thrive in the situations that are best for her and the team by playing off the ball. She is also quick on defense, with 81 steals this season.
Also, to start the week off right, the SEC announced Mikayla Blakes as Player of the Week for the sixth time this season. That increases her program record, which she had set just last week. Blakes averaged 34.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in a pair of wins over No. 24 Alabama and at Tennessee
Aubrey Galvan was named the SEC Co-Freshman of the Week after averaging 15.5 points, 7.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals in wins over No. 24 Alabama and Tennessee. This is her fifth SEC Freshman of the Week honor this season.
This makes the fourth time this season that both have garnered the awards in the same week.
Vanderbilt has the double bye heading into Greenville, S.C., this week for the SEC Tournament and will begin play on Friday night at 6:00 PM ET. They will face one of the three in Ole Miss, Auburn, or Texas A&M.
Stay tuned for more Vanderbilt women’s basketball coverage here at Mays Sports Media.
