Vanderbilt women’s basketball freshman Mikayla Blakes set a Division I women’s basketball freshman scoring record, again posting a plus 50-point game with 55 points in a 98-88 overtime win against Auburn on Sunday. The performance passed the previous record of 54 points, set by WNBA star Elena Delle Donne as a redshirt freshman at Delaware in 2010.
Blakes, a 5-foot-8 guard, shot 15-for-28 from the field, hit two three-pointers and made 23 of 24 free throws. She sealed the record at the free-throw line with 17 seconds left in overtime, missing only one of her 24 attempts. She scored 11 points in the extra period after forcing overtime by sinking three free throws in the final second of regulation.
“I’m just excited,” Blakes said after the game, per ESPN News Services. “I had to prove myself and just do whatever needed to be done for us to win today.”
Blakes finished with 16 points in the first half and 28 in the second before adding 11 in overtime. The standout performance continued her high-scoring trend, as she had previously scored 53 points in a win over Florida on Jan. 30.
SHE DROPPED 50 AGAIN
pic.twitter.com/vTFqJiuM4H
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) February 17, 2025
Vanderbilt women’s basketball head coach Shea Ralph credited the Commodores’ determination, emphasizing the collective effort in securing the win.
“I knew coming in here today that we were going to win,” Ralph said. “We had to. And that was the mindset that my team showed up with, and Mikayla showed up.”
Blakes’ scoring effort ranks among the highest individual performances in NCAA history, though the overall Division I record remains with Kansas State’s Ayoka Lee, who scored 61 points in 2022.
Reflecting on her mindset, Blakes pointed to a shift in confidence.
“When things are being denied for me, and I’m being pressured, just to be able to handle that better and be more mature,” she said. “I think I tried to do that today.”
Vanderbilt will look to build on the momentum when it returns to action later this week on the road against Oklahoma Thursday. The Commodores then host South Carolina Sunday.
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