Vanderbilt Commodores Freshman Shines in Upset of Alabama Crimson Tide
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The Vanderbilt Commodores Women's Basketball team headed on the road for a thriller against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Sunday afternoon. It was the Commodores that came out on top, 66-64.
With this massive victory under their belts, Vanderbilt improves to 17-4 on the year and 4-3 in conference play. It is their second top-25 win this year, and second in the last three games as the Commodores have caught fire.
After struggling in the first half, it had looked like Vanderbilt was going to run away with it in the second half. A three minute field goal drought in the final frame ended up letting the game get close again, though.
For much of this game, it was a star against star matchup between Commodores freshman Mikayla Blakes and Crimson Tide guard Sarah Ashlee Barker.
Blakes has been one of the premier scorers in the nation all season and this game was no different.
She put up 33 points on 10-of-21 from the field and added five rebounds with an assist. That accounted for half of Vanderbilt's points.
Pretty much no one else was able to get anything going for the Commodores, so she was even more important than normal. The team, as a whole, shot just 33.8% on the day.
It was the same story for Barker and Alabama. The senior exploded for one of her best career games. She had 36 points with nine rebounds and three assists. That was 54.5% of the Crimson Tide's points.
Barker's night was extra impressive because of how efficient she was, shooting 15-of-21 from the field herself.
Vanderbilt guard Khamil Pierre is normally a reliable scorer, but she managed 12 points on 19 shots for the game. Pierre found other ways to help them win, though, as she had five steals and 14 rebounds.
Jordyn Oliver also struggled offensively, only putting up one shot that missed, but she was an important piece to the Vanderbilt defense. She added four steals to the team's total of 17.
After going nine straight years missing the NCAA tournament, the Commodores are pointed toward their second straight berth under coach Shea Ralph. Vandy is also likely looking at a much higher seed, as they were just a No. 12 seed last year.
Even before taking down the Crimson Tide, ESPN's Bracketology had them as a seven seed, which would be their highest seed since the 2012 tourney.
Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders