Mikayla Blakes storms past Vanderbilt women's single-season scoring mark in NCAA opener

Audio By Carbonatix

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — All-American Mikayla Blakes needed only part of the first half Saturday night of the NCAA Tournament to become the best single-season scorer in Vanderbilt women's history.

Blakes came in with 837 points just 19 shy of the mark of 855 points set by Wendy Scholtens during the 1989-90 season, and the nation's scoring leader had 23 by halftime against No. 15 seed High Point just four off her average of 27 a game.

That helped the second-seeded Commodores lead 54-32 at halftime. Blakes finished with 30 points playing only two minutes of the fourth quarter in a 102-61 win, and she didn't learn about her latest mark until told after the game.

“I'm just excited and just really doing whatever my team need me to do,” Blakes said. “Try and get easy buckets and also I couldn't do it without my teammates. ... I'm just super thankful.”

Coach Shea Ralph isn't surprised at anything Blakes does, knowing the guard committed to come to Vanderbilt to do the uncommon thing and having faith in Ralph that she could build a legacy. Ralph said Blakes has a skillset and works really hard to make what she does look very easy.

“We are witnessing a generational player, and I don't throw that around lightly," Ralph said.

“That kid is different. She's built differently, internally, externally. She's the nicest kid on the planet and will come out on the court and absolutely rip out your heart out of your chest and do it in a bunch of different ways and you'll still want to give her a hug after the game.”

The Vanderbilt guard led the Southeastern Conference averaging 30.5 points in league play, making her the SEC's first player this century to average more than 30 a game. Blakes also leads the nation with 12 games this season scoring at least 30 points.

Blakes has reached double digits now in 51 games, one shy of the program's record of 52 straight set by Chantelle Anderson during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness