Vanderbilt freshman Mikayla Blakes set an SEC single-game scoring record by exploding for 53 points in the Commodores’ 99-86 win over Florida on Thursday night.
Blakes’ 53 points are tied for the second-most points ever scored by a freshman in a Division I game, according to the NCAA record book and CBS Research. She trails only Delaware’s Elena Delle Donne, who scored 54 against James Madison in 2010, and is tied with Nevada’s Chris Starr, who also went for 53 back in 1983 against Sacramento State. Additionally, USC star Juju Watkins scored 51 in a game last year.
Blakes, who also set a school record on Thursday, is the only Division I basketball player — men’s or women’s — to top 50 points in a game this season. It’s the most points in a game by any player since Kansas State’s Ayoka Lee set the Division I record with 61 points against Oklahoma in 2022.
The previous SEC record was 51 points. South Carolina’s Jocelyn Penn reached that mark in 2003, tying Tennessee’s Patricia Roberts (1976).
In the win, which improved the No. 23 Commodores to 18-4 (5-3 SEC) on the season, Blakes went 16 of 24 from the field, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range and 16 of 18 from the foul line.
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