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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 campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
