20 Wins in a Row: Vanderbilt Pulls Away from Auburn Before Sunday Showdown
With a huge 72-69 victory over top 10 Michigan behind them, Vanderbilt women’s basketball has an even bigger showdown with top 5 conference foe South Carolina looming on Sunday.
But before that, the Commodores would have to tangle Auburn at home Thursday ahead of the expected snowmageddon this weekend. Auburn, a lower tier SEC team, didn’t appear to present much of a threat on paper leading to the only real question heading into this contest — would this be a trap game or a tuneup? As it turned out, it was both in one game as Vanderbilt followed up a subpar first half in letting the Tigers hang around with a brilliant second half to pull away for an emphatic 81-53 win.
Vandy started well, shooting 53% in the first quarter jumping out to a 23-12 lead. Unfortunately, the Commodores followed that up with a dismal second quarter shooting 27%, missing all 6 three-point attempts, with 5 turnovers. The early momentum was lost, and Auburn was right back in the game by outscoring the Commodores 17-10 in the second to go into halftime with a narrow 33-29 deficit.
The Tigers closed the gap to just two, 33-31, to start the third quarter before Vandy woke up. Commodores finally showed a fire that had been missing, hitting Auburn with an 18-2 run which led to a comfortable 51-33 lead with just over four minutes to go in the quarter. Auburn would not threaten again.
Star Mikayla Blakes shot poorly against Michigan, which seemed to carry over early in this game. Blakes went scoreless in the first quarter, missing all four of her shots and finished the first half with just 6 points on 3-12 shooting. Fortunately, she came alive during the decisive third quarter, scoring 12 points in the frame to help break the game open. Blakes would finish with a game high 20 points.
She had help — two teammates finished with double-doubles. Post Sacha Washington had a season high 18 points to go with her 12 rebounds. Phenom freshman point guard Aubrey Galvan hit some key shots to finish with 15 points, along with her 10 assists and 4 steals. Justine Pissott finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds, while reserve Aiyana Mitchell had 8 points to round out a balanced effort.
Vandy shot 50% from the floor and outrebounded Auburn 44-25. With the win the Commodores extend their program winning streak to 20-0, and 6-0 in the SEC.
They will need to be at their very best Sunday to extend the winning streak against a South Carolina program that has been the conference standard for the last decade. The Gamecocks will be coming off an upset loss to Oklahoma 94-82 in overtime, adding more fuel to the fire. It was South Carolina’s first conference loss and guarantees Vandy will have their full attention.
TDR Hats Available
Click Here to go to TDR’s all new store – back in stock soon
TDR Collab
NIL Store
Visit Nil.Store/DOREREPORT15 and use code DOREREPORT15 at checkout for 15% off your order
Great NIL gear from your favorite Vanderbilt athletes
Rhoback
Click Here to shop for Vanderbilt gear on Rhoback.com
Use Code VAN20 for 20% off your first order
