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Mikayla Blakes' and Aubrey Galvan's Vanderbilt women's basketball teammates call them Batman and Robin.
The two Commodores guards complement each other and both have put up heroics at different times. Against No. 11 Oklahoma on Feb. 9, the two of them put on a show. Blakes scored 34 points, her eighth 30-point game this season, with four rebounds and six assists. Galvan put up a career-high 30 points, going 10-for-14 from the field and 7-for-9 from the free-throw line.
No. 8 Vanderbilt (23-2, 9-2 SEC) beat the 11th-ranked Sooners (17-6, 5-5), 102-86 at Memorial Gymnasium.
"The matchups like tonight, the moments that are the biggest, is when (Galvan) shines the brightest, which is why it's great for her to be playing with (Blakes), because she does the same thing," coach Shea Ralph said. " ... Our team calls them Batman and Robin, and they were doing Batman and Robin things tonight."
Blakes took over the national lead in scoring after the game at 25.92 points per game. She is a contender for both SEC and National Player of the Year, while Galvan has put herself in the SEC Freshman of the Year conversation with her performance against another contender in Aaliyah Chavez. (Chavez scored 14 points on 7-for-19 from the field.)
"Nobody can guard her and nobody can get by her," Galvan said of Blakes. "She's everything that you want in a teammate and a leader and everything. She leads our team really well and she's also just a great person to have next to, either telling me what I can do better or just supporting me."
Blakes said of Galvan: "She puts us in positions where we're going to thrive, and that's really hard to do as a freshman, but she's done it with ease. I haven't seen any freshman doing it like her."
Vanderbilt didn't do things perfectly against the Sooners. The Commodores had zero bench points, were outscored 48-24 in the paint and outrebounded, 50-36. But none of Oklahoma's star players, like Chavez or Raegan Beers, could match what Blakes and Galvan did.
"(Blakes is) just really special," Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk said. "She just can really make it go for everybody. And when you have a player like that, that just can open the room for everybody else ... she's really, really special."
Two of Vanderbilt's other starters performed well too. Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda put up 13 points and nine rebounds while Justine Pissott had 16 points.
While Blakes has been the focal point of this team for the last two years, winning SEC Freshman of the Year a year ago, Galvan has come on strong over the past several games. She'd caught attention of observers early on for her passing and court vision, but she's grown more comfortable as a scorer too. She's scored in double digits in nine of her last 12 games after doing so in just seven of her first 13.
"(The coaches are) still yelling at me to shoot it more, especially in practice," Galvan said. " ... I know the shots that my team needs me to take, not to force anything, but the shots that are there, I'm just seeing more now as the season's going on."
With their fourth ranked win of the season, the Commodores have established themselves as favorites to host March Madness games at Memorial Gymnasium. That's important for a team that is undefeated at home this season and has its longest single-season home win streak in program history. And Blakes and Galvan have proven they can lead Vanderbilt over teams that could also end up hosts.
The Commodores' biggest home matchup of the season is still to come: a Feb. 12 tilt with No. 4 Texas, a Final Four contender. And Blakes and Galvan are rounding into top form just as the spotlight grows brighter.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Mikayla Blakes, Aubrey Galvan star for Vanderbilt vs Oklahoma
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The two Commodores guards complement each other and both have put up heroics at different times. Against No. 11 Oklahoma on Feb. 9, the two of them put on a show. Blakes scored 34 points, her eighth 30-point game this season, with four rebounds and six assists. Galvan put up a career-high 30 points, going 10-for-14 from the field and 7-for-9 from the free-throw line.
No. 8 Vanderbilt (23-2, 9-2 SEC) beat the 11th-ranked Sooners (17-6, 5-5), 102-86 at Memorial Gymnasium.
"The matchups like tonight, the moments that are the biggest, is when (Galvan) shines the brightest, which is why it's great for her to be playing with (Blakes), because she does the same thing," coach Shea Ralph said. " ... Our team calls them Batman and Robin, and they were doing Batman and Robin things tonight."
Blakes took over the national lead in scoring after the game at 25.92 points per game. She is a contender for both SEC and National Player of the Year, while Galvan has put herself in the SEC Freshman of the Year conversation with her performance against another contender in Aaliyah Chavez. (Chavez scored 14 points on 7-for-19 from the field.)
"Nobody can guard her and nobody can get by her," Galvan said of Blakes. "She's everything that you want in a teammate and a leader and everything. She leads our team really well and she's also just a great person to have next to, either telling me what I can do better or just supporting me."
Blakes said of Galvan: "She puts us in positions where we're going to thrive, and that's really hard to do as a freshman, but she's done it with ease. I haven't seen any freshman doing it like her."
Vanderbilt didn't do things perfectly against the Sooners. The Commodores had zero bench points, were outscored 48-24 in the paint and outrebounded, 50-36. But none of Oklahoma's star players, like Chavez or Raegan Beers, could match what Blakes and Galvan did.
"(Blakes is) just really special," Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk said. "She just can really make it go for everybody. And when you have a player like that, that just can open the room for everybody else ... she's really, really special."
Two of Vanderbilt's other starters performed well too. Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda put up 13 points and nine rebounds while Justine Pissott had 16 points.
While Blakes has been the focal point of this team for the last two years, winning SEC Freshman of the Year a year ago, Galvan has come on strong over the past several games. She'd caught attention of observers early on for her passing and court vision, but she's grown more comfortable as a scorer too. She's scored in double digits in nine of her last 12 games after doing so in just seven of her first 13.
"(The coaches are) still yelling at me to shoot it more, especially in practice," Galvan said. " ... I know the shots that my team needs me to take, not to force anything, but the shots that are there, I'm just seeing more now as the season's going on."
With their fourth ranked win of the season, the Commodores have established themselves as favorites to host March Madness games at Memorial Gymnasium. That's important for a team that is undefeated at home this season and has its longest single-season home win streak in program history. And Blakes and Galvan have proven they can lead Vanderbilt over teams that could also end up hosts.
The Commodores' biggest home matchup of the season is still to come: a Feb. 12 tilt with No. 4 Texas, a Final Four contender. And Blakes and Galvan are rounding into top form just as the spotlight grows brighter.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Mikayla Blakes, Aubrey Galvan star for Vanderbilt vs Oklahoma
Continue reading...
