NASHVILLE — Vanderbilt sophomore Mikayla Blakes scored 23 of her 30 points by halftime as the second-seeded Commodores routed No. 15 seed High Point 102-61 in the first round of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament Saturday night at Memorial Gymnasium.
Vanderbilt (28-4) entered having already set the program’s single-season wins record and remains undefeated at home this season. The Southeastern Conference’s Commodores, who are part of Regional 1, are back in action at Memorial on Monday, when they’ll face seventh-seeded Illinois for a spot in the Sweet 16 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Sacha Washington had 10 points and 17 rebounds to post a double-double for Vanderbilt, Aubrey Galvan added 17 points and Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda scored 10 as 11 Commodores had at least a point.
It was the most points scored in an NCAA tournament game by Vanderbilt in its 30th appearance in the event, and fifth-year head coach Shea Ralph said it was important to start out on the right foot in front of their fans.
“This has been the vision for us,” Ralph said, “and being able to actually experience that today with our team, and that dream of our team today was really cool and understanding, like, ‘OK, they’re bringing that energy. We have to put on a great show. We’ve got to come out here and honor that by how we play.'”