Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball first-year Mikayla Blakes scored 53 points on Jan. 30, setting the NCAA freshman single-game scoring record. Blakes led her team to a 99-86 victory over Florida, sinking nine 3-pointers and converting on 16-of-24 field goals while adding two assists and three steals. Her 53 points surpassed the former record of 51 points set by USC’s Juju Watkins last year. 

“Every time I get on the court I am going to have the utmost confidence in myself, and I’m going to be able to make big plays and be somebody that my teammates can trust,” Blakes said on the postgame ESPN broadcast.

Blakes’ 53 points were also the most among all NCAA Division I players this season. She additionally broke Vanderbilt’s first-year single-game scoring record of 36, which she set against Georgia earlier in January.  Blakes’ performance also shattered the program’s single-game scoring record — besting teammate Khamil Pierre’s 42 points on Dec. 12 — and the SEC Women’s Basketball single-game scoring record.

Blakes, who is averaging 22.4 points per game, came to Vanderbilt as the No. 8 recruit in the nation and has become a top contender for the NCAA National Freshman of the Year award. Blakes’ numbers were on par to make her a strong contender for the award after nonconference play, and she has since taken her performance to another level. The New Jersey native’s record-breaking performance comes just after she won the USBWA Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week in back-to-back weeks. She has also collected four SEC Freshman of the Week honors.

Blakes, a team captain despite being in her first year of collegiate basketball, will continue to lead her team. Vanderbilt now holds an 18-4 record (5-3 in the SEC) and looks to ascend to even higher heights and return to the NCAA Tournament. 

Blakes and the Commodores will host Ole Miss on Feb. 2 at 2 p.m. CST in Memorial Gymnasium.