Mikayla Blakes sets DI freshman record with 55 points in Vanderbilt win over Auburn
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Mikayla Blakes has rewritten the record books.
On Sunday, Blakes scored 55 points to lead the Vanderbilt women to a 98-88 victory over Auburn. That’s more than any other Division I freshman (true or redshirt) in NCAA history. She broke her own record, topping the 53 points she put up on Jan. 31.
It takes a lot of shots to score a lot of points. Blakes was 15-of-28 from the field. One might expect a 55-point game to need a lot of 3-points, but just 2 of Blakes’ field goals were from 3-point territory.
Blakes got to the line and took advantage. She made 23-of-24 free throws. Auburn, as a team, attempted only 21 free throws in the game. Vanderbilt was 29-of-32 at the line, thanks to Blakes.
For the Commodores, there was more to celebrate than just Blakes’ big day. Vanderbilt trailed 74-59 at the 6:55 mark of the 4th quarter. It was 84-84 at the end of regulation. Blakes scored 11 of Vanderbilt’s 14 points in overtime as the Dores secured the 10-point victory.
Vanderbilt improves to 19-7 overall with a 6-6 record in SEC play with the win. Auburn falls to 12-14 with a 3-10 conference record.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
