Blakes scores 27 and No. 17 Vanderbilt women beat BYU 84-71 to win Paradise Jam’s Island Division

ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands (AP) — Mikayla Blakes scored 27 points, Justine Pissott had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 17 Vanderbilt beat BYU 84-71 on Saturday to claim the Paradise Jam’s Island Division.

Vanderbilt (8-0) entered with a 7-0 record for the third-straight season — accomplishing the feat for the first time in program history. Vandy’s No. 17 ranking in the AP poll marks the program’s highest since the 2013-14 team was No. 16 in Week 15.

Blakes was coming off a season-high 35-point performance in Thursday’s win over Oregon State. It was the seventh 30-point game of the sophomore’s career. Blakes was 10 of 24 from the field against BYU to extend her double-digit scoring streak to 27 games.

Freshman Aubrey Galvan added 16 points, and Sacha Washington grabbed 12 rebounds to go with seven points and six assists for Vanderbilt.

Marya Hudgins scored 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting and she also had 12 rebounds for BYU (7-1). Sydney Benally and Arielle Mackey-Williams each scored 11.

BYU scored the opening points of the game and led 28-16 at the end of the first quarter behind 11 points from Hudgins. Vanderbilt rallied in the second quarter behind a 13-0 run and the Commodores led 40-39 at the break.

Pissott scored eight straight Vanderbilt points in the third to give them their first double-digit lead of the game. The Commodores added a 10-0 run in the fourth that ended in a 77-62 lead.

The Commodores have won 14 straight games against non-SEC teams in the regular season.

Up next

BYU: Returns home to play Washington State on Wednesday.

Vanderbilt: Hosts Virginia on Wednesday in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

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