Mikayla Blakes scores 35 as No. 5 Vanderbilt survives No. 16 Kentucky 81-79 on late stop
Mikayla Blakes scored 35 points and Justine Pissott came up with a big defensive play late to help No. 5 Vanderbilt edge 16th-ranked Kentucky 81-79 on Sunday
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Mikayla Blakes scored 35 points and Justine Pissott came up with a big defensive play late to help No. 5 Vanderbilt edge 16th-ranked Kentucky 81-79 on Sunday.
Trailing by one, Kentucky's Clara Strack had the ball with 4 seconds left and made a move to the basket from the wing when Pissott deflected it out of Strack's hand. Blakes gained possession and then was fouled with less than a second left. She hit the first of two free throws and then the Wildcats couldn't get off a shot.
Aubrey Galvan, who finished with 20 points, hit the go-ahead jumper with 7.9 seconds left to lift Vanderbilt (25-3, 11-3 SEC). Pissott finished with eight points, including two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. One of those 3's tied the game with 2:21 left.
The victory ties Vanderbilt with No 4 Texas for second place in the SEC with two games left in regular-season play.
Strack led the Wildcats (20-8, 7-7) in scoring, finishing with 17 points and seven rebounds. Amelia Hassett added 15 points, hitting five 3-pointers.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.