Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball (5-0) cruised to a 94-45 victory over the Hampton Lady Pirates (1-3) on Wednesday, Nov. 20 under the lights of Memorial Gymnasium. First-year Mikayla Blakes once again made her mark on the game, leading all scorers with 22 points while adding 8 assists and 3 steals. Khamil Pierre played a major role in the blowout, too, putting up 15 points and 12 rebounds en route to her fourth double-double of the season.
It wasn’t a pretty start to the game for the Commodores, who entered the contest as heavy favorites, having just made quick work of the Butler Bulldogs over the weekend, but they ultimately cruised behind a 28-7 second quarter and never looked back. In the end, head coach Shea Ralph and her squad did enough to improve to 5-0 for the second season in a row.
Hampton scored 21 points in the first quarter before the Commodores locked in on defense, holding the Lady Pirates to 22 points for the rest of the evening.
First quarter
The affair started with a flurry of misses for the Commodores, and the Lady Pirates capitalized as a layup from Le’Asia Foreman put her squad up 2-0 early. Blakes, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, responded with a midrange jumper of her own to square things up.
Arina Nikishina and Jane Nwaba traded jumpers down low before Iyana Moore ripped a steal from the hands of Aisha Dabo and found Blakes for a transition triple. Her shot missed, but Pierre found an offensive rebound and muscled her way to an and-one finish that gave Vanderbilt its first lead of the day at 7-4.
CeCe Thomas came right back with a vengeance, though, nailing a triple — the first of the night for either team — to even things up. Pierre and Jenae Dublin traded baskets on the other side of the media timeout before Madison Greene scored her first points of the game after a nifty ball fake left her alone in the paint. Another jumper from Dublin put the Lady Pirates up 12-11 and forced Ralph to use her first timeout of the evening.
Blakes found space after an off-ball screen to recapture the Commodores’ lead before they forced a 10-second violation on defense. Blakes went right back to work, driving into the lane for a lefty and-one finish to extend Vanderbilt’s lead to four. Dabo and Aga Makurat traded 3-pointers as the Lady Pirates refused to go away, using a turnover and fast-break layup to even the score at 19 with 1:07 to go. Both sides traded short-range makes before a floater from Moore sent the game into its first quarter break with the scoreboard flashing 23-21 in favor of the ‘Dores.
Moore spoke postgame about the adjustments the team made.
“When we came out in the second quarter, we got in the huddle, and w e talked about ‘let’s really hone in on the details,'” Moore said. “It starts with communication effort, and once we start celebrating each other, then the game just really turns around.”
Ralph echoed a similar sentiment.
“These games, even though I hate them as a coach, when you see kind of the best of your team at time, and certainly the worst,” Ralph said. “”I think they’re good for us in that sometimes it takes those moments for the players to understand how to prepare.”
Second quarter
Moore came out firing in the second quarter with a triple from the corner before Blakes euro-stepped through the lane for another tough bucket. The pair then teamed up to force another 10-second violation as Moore came through with another jumper on the resulting possession. The Blakes show continued as she cut through to the paint and took a nifty pass from Nwaba for two more points. Hampton called a timeout with 7:27 left in the second quarter as Vanderbilt’s lead had ballooned to nine.
The ‘Dores employed a full-court press out of the timeout as Blakes forced Reaves into an offensive foul. Her dominance continued as she drilled a triple from the top of the key — her 14th point of the game — to extend the lead to 12 points. Makurat kept pouring it in, nailing a shot from beyond the arc. A shot clock violation and a mid-range jumper from Blakes, followed by a 3-pointer from Greene, marked a 17-0 run from the Commodores.
Hampton came back and connected on a couple of shots, but Vanderbilt was already well within its groove. A pair of steals and layups — one each from Greene and Leilani Kapinus — kept the ‘Dores rolling. Kapinus then found space below the basket for a wide-open layup to close the first half as the scoreboard flashed 51-28 in favor of the home team.
The second quarter was particularly dominant for the Black and Gold, who outscored the Lady Pirates 28-7 after a slow first frame. Blakes led all scorers with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting as Moore (7 points), Makurat (6 points) and Greene (9 points) contributed to the 51-point half for Vanderbilt.
Third quarter
Pierre opened the second half by picking Foreman’s pocket and connecting on an easy layup. A steal from Nwaba gave way to a trip to the free throw line from Blakes, who went 1-of-2 from the stripe. Hampton stopped a mini, 5-0 run from Vanderbilt with a timeout, but Nwaba drew more contact and connected on a pair of free throws to keep the Commodores’ momentum flowing.
Moore splashed a triple to keep the run going and extend Vanderbilt’s lead to 33 points. Blakes and Pierre teamed up to force another turnover as the latter made her fourth bucket of the game. Makurat fired up the home crowd with a block on the other end that forced a shot clock violation from the Lady Pirates. Moore drilled a spot-up jumper — with a foot on the line — to keep her foot on the gas. Blakes zipped through on a fast break to enter the 20-point threshold before a layup from Casey Miller broke an 18-0 Vanderbilt run.
Kapinus connected on a triple — her first of the year — before Aiyana Mitchell scored her first points of the game with an easy layup under the rim. Vanderbilt led 74-30 at the 3:48 media timeout. The quarter ended slowly, but a defense-splitting assist from Blakes to Mitchell gave the home crowd something to cheer about. The Commodores were still cruising when the third-quarter whistle blew, leading 76-32 as the Lady Pirates scored just four points through the entire quarter.
Fourth quarter
Vanderbilt cruised through the game’s closing quarter as Jordyn Oliver left her mark on the game with back-to-back buckets early on in the period. Justine Pissott also added in her first points of the game from the left wing to build the lead up to 52 points, with the scoreboard showing 86-34.
Trinity Wilson and Jada Brown checked in with the Commodores up nearly 50 points as they coasted for the game’s closing minutes, winning 94-45.
Vanderbilt will return to action in Memorial Gymnasium on Friday, Nov. 22, against Samford at 6:30 p.m. CST.
