GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Mikayla Blakes scored an NCAA freshman record 53 points after making 16 field goals and 16 free throws to help No. 23 Vanderbilt beat Florida 99-86 on Thursday night.
Blakes, who scored 33 in a win over then-No. 19 Alabama last time out and whose previous season high was 36, broke the previous freshman mark of 51, set last season by Southern California‘s JuJu Watkins.
Blakes is the only player in Division I – men’s or women’s – to score at least 50 points in a game this season.
“I told the team in the locker room that Mikayla had one of the most incredible performances that I’ve ever seen as a coach, and I’ve coached a lot of really good players for a long time,” Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph said. “And that’s not taking anything away from them. When you see player like her do what she did tonight sometimes she makes things that are really, really hard to do look really easy. That’s the sign of someone who is just gifted.”
Blakes’ 53 points also tied the Exactech Arena at O’Connell Center scoring record set by LSU men’s basketball player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf during the 1988-89 season. Blakes also becomes the first Commodore since 1999-00 to have back-to-back games with 30-plus points.
Additionally, Blakes set the Vanderbilt women’s basketball single-game scoring record, breaking Khamil Pierre‘s previous record of 42 points, which was set on Dec. 17 vs. Evansville. Pierre scored just three points Thursday on 1-of-10 shooting but finished with 11 rebounds and three steals. for Vanderbilt (18-4, 5-3 SEC).
Ra Shaya Kyle finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds for Florida (11-11, 2-6).
Vanderbilt plays host to Mississippi on Sunday. Florida hits the road to play Monday at Arkansas.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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