Vanderbilt Freshman Receives the First of Many Awards: The Anchor, March 5, 2025

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Mikayla Blakes had a freshman season that is rivaled only by some of the best women collegiate basketball players.
She led all freshmen with 23.3 points per game, which was sixth-best in the nation, and ranks inside the top 35 nationally in scoring (6th; 23.3), free throws made (8th; 167), steals (21st; 75) and 3-pointers made (32nd; 72).
On Tuesday, Blakes’s magnificent season has started to bring what will end up being an enormous amount of post-season honors and awards. That beagan on Tuesday with Blakes behind named to the 2025 Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award top five finalists list. Blakes is the first Vanderbilt finalist for the award and was named alongside Ta’Niya Latson (Florida State), Flau’Jae Johnson (LSU), Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame) and JuJu Watkins (Southern Cal).
Fans can support Blakes by participating in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, starting Friday, March 7, at HoopHallAwards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.
The winners of the 2025 Meyers Drysdale Awards will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Women’s Starting Five. Additional awards being presented include the Nancy Lieberman Award (Point Guard), Cheryl Miller Award (Small Forward), Katrina McClain Award (Power Forward) and Lisa Leslie Award (Center).
Today’s Commodores Schedule
Women’s Golf: Vanderbilt at Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, Long Cove Club, Hilton Head, S.C.
Lacrosse: Louisville at Vanderbilt, Noon, ESPN+
Baseball: St. Bonaventure at Vanderbilt, 4:30 p.m., SECN+
Yesterday’s Commodores Results
Men’s Basketball: Arkansas 90, Vanderbilt 77
Men’s Golf: Vanderbilt, Ninth Place at 2025 Cabo Collegiate
Final Results
9. Vanderbilt – 873 (296, 286, 291)
T8 Jackson Van Paris (70, 71, 69 – 210)
T32 Wells Williams (71, 74, 74 – 219)
T40 Chase Nevins (80, 68, 72 – 220)
T63 John Broderick (77, 73, 78 – 228)
T74 Gordon Sargent (78, 79, 76 – 233)
Women’s Golf: Vanderbilt at Darius Rucker Intercollegiate
Tillie Claggett’s 3-under-par performance on Tuesday shot her into a tie for third on the individual leaderboard at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. With one round remaining, Vanderbilt sits in sixth place following a 9-over 293 team score in the second round.
Did You Notice?
Back at it. pic.twitter.com/mtpj2FDSwT
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) March 5, 2025
Etched in History.
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) March 4, 2025
We are proud to celebrate Pedro Alvarez as he takes his place in the Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame! pic.twitter.com/96DgAV2HdR
Had to make a quick stop as we got into town 🤩👾🎮🎳#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/Buon6ai03D
— Vanderbilt WBB (@VandyWBB) March 5, 2025
Countdown to Vanderbilt’s 2025 Football Season Opener
178 days
We’ll Leave You With This…
[On Shan Foster scoring 42 points on this date in 2008] “Shan was just incredible tonight. I can’t really put it into words. … Lord have mercy, that was amazing. I’m glad I spent all that time teaching him how to shoot.”Kevin Stallings
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Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.