The college basketball world saw another milestone broken Thursday night as Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes surpassed USC freshman phenom JuJu Watkins’ record-setting 51 points, scoring 53 in a 99-86 win against Florida.
It’s the second-most all-time in NCAA women’s basketball history by a freshman. Blakes, who finished 16-of-24 from the field, missed the all-time total points scored in a game by a single point. Former Delaware star Elena Delle Donne’s record-setter came in 2010 as a true freshman, falling to James Madison in an overtime slugfest, 88-83.
Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph was awestruck by Blakes’ outing, becoming the only player in college basketball to reach the 50-point plateau or higher 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,” Ralph told reporters following the win. “And that’s not taking anything away from them. When you see players 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 has helped propel the Commodores (18-4, 5-3 SEC) to the nation’s No. 23 ranking,…
