Vanderbilt Hosts Illinois With Sweet 16 on the Line After Blakes Sets Scoring Mark

Overview

• No. 2 seed Vanderbilt advanced by routing No. 15 High Point 102-61 on March 21 and will face No. 7 Illinois on March 23 at Memorial Gymnasium.
• Mikayla Blakes scored 30 for her 13th 30-point game and broke Vanderbilt’s single-season record with 867 points; she leads the nation at 27.1 points per game and is the SEC player of the year and an All-American.
• Sacha Washington grabbed 17 rebounds to tie Vanderbilt’s NCAA Tournament single-game record and added 10 points in the first-round win.
• SEC Freshman of the Year Aubrey Galvan logged 17 points, six assists and four steals, setting up a matchup with Illinois freshman point guard Destiny Jackson.
• Vanderbilt is 17-0 at home and set a program NCAA scoring mark with 102 points against High Point, with a victory over Illinois needed to reach the program’s first Sweet 16 since 2009.