Coretta Scott King Classic: Vanderbilt is more than Mikayla Blakes, Chance Gray is Ohio State's spark plug

The second annual Coretta Scott King Classic delivered two exciting women's basketball matchups in New Jersey on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The action started at noon with No. 12 Ohio State shaking off a poor start to defeat No. 9 TCU 71-69. Later in the day, No. 5 Vanderbilt stopped a comeback by No. 7 Michigan to win 72-69 and remain undefeated.

Besides an afternoon filled with basketball, it was a good day to remember those who worked hard for civil rights. Ahead of the games, Dr. Bernice King, daughter of Coretta and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., spoke to the players of all four teams about the challenges still faced by certain groups in the nation, including those in women's sports.

It was a meaningful event for everyone involved, but perhaps especially so for Ohio State's Chance Gray. Gray, who was the leading scorer in the Buckeyes' victory, is the great-granddaughter of Benjamin Hooks, who worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and was a former executive director of the NAACP, as reported by the Associated Press.

"He was a civil rights leader, a judge, a lawyer, he was from Memphis," Gray said. "He worked very closely with Doctor King. There's a lot of history and my family was glad that he was part of that history."

Here are some of the main takeaways from the Coretta Scott King Classic:

Vanderbilt is deeper than Mikayla Blakes

Mikayla Blakes is one of the top scorers in the nation and often gets the spotlight. However, in the game against Michigan, Vanderbilt showed the team is still dangerous even when she doesn't fully take over on offense. Blakes still contributed with 14 points, but she averages over 25 points per game and it was her lowest-scoring game of the season. She was also in foul trouble as she got her fourth personal foul in the middle of the third quarter.

Freshman Aubrey Galvan stepped up big time and led Vanderbilt with a career-high 20 points while shooting 50% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. Justine Pissott did a little bit of everything with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. Sacha Washington also contributed with nine points, while Aiyana Mitchell gave the Commodores seven points off the bench.

"I'm very proud of us," Blakes said during her FOX postgame interview. "I think everybody did something special who entered into the game. That's part of being on a team."

Michigan showed heart and fight in comeback attempt

Despite being on the losing end, the Wolverines can hold their heads high with how hard they fought in their loss to Vanderbilt. Michigan was down by as many as 19 points but made the right adjustments to hold the Commodores to just 25 points in the second half. 

The Wolverines had a good opportunity to take the lead, and potentially even win the game, when Olivia Olson got a great look for a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining. The miss was unfortunate, but they continued to fight until the very last second. Syla Swords got another 3-pointer attempt as the clock was running out, but this was also unsuccessful. 

Kim Barnes Arico has a young roster with multiple sophomores playing key roles, and that inexperience can lead to costly mistakes. Michigan struggled to take care of the ball and gave up 22 points off 17 turnovers. There were also multiple easy layups the team just didn't make. But the main issue for Michigan was falling far behind early in the game, which also happened when the team almost upset No. 1 UConn in November. The Wolverines can play aggressively and have a never-back-down attitude, but need to work on consistency and coming out strong in the first half. This kind of loss will hopefully help the Wolverines in March. 

Chance Gray was the spark Ohio State needed

The Buckeyes had a rough start with only eight points in the first quarter. This included Gray, who only registered a 3-pointer and a turnover in those 10 minutes. However, she turned up the heat and had 17 of Ohio State's 33 points by halftime. 

"Chance really stepped up and had an incredible game," coach Kevin McGuff said postgame. "We had a dreadful first quarter, as a team, but when we got going in the second quarter, much of that had to do with Chance."

She finished the day with 22 points, which included going 6 of 8 from beyond the arc. One of these 3-pointers was a key bucket for Ohio State with just 16 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Buckeyes are led by Jaloni Cambridge this season, with 21.8 points per game, but this roster has multiple scoring options and Monday was Gray's time to shine. Besides Cambridge, Kylee Kitts was a top contributor in the win against Maryland last week. Against Penn State, Elsa Lemmilä, who averages 7.8 points per game, tied a career-high 21 points. She brought that momentum to Monday's game with 17 points.

TCU has a turnover issue

One of the stats that pops off of the stat sheet is the Horned Frogs giving up 18 points off 20 turnovers. Ohio State does deserve some credit because their style of play has even made top teams like UCLA uncomfortable. However, TCU has had a turnover issue most of the season. 

This was the third time this season TCU has had at least 20 turnovers. The first time was 20 against Sam Houston early November, and most recently it was 24 in a 51-50 win against West Virginia. That game against the Mountaineers could have easily been a loss, but the Horned Frogs were saved by a last-second 3-pointer by Marta Suarez.