mikayla-blakes-getty.png
Getty Images

While UConn's Sarah Strong has been the top candidate for Player of the Year honors in the 2025-26 women's college basketball season, Vanderbilt sophomore Mikayla Blakes made a loud statement on Thursday night. Blakes scored 34 points in an 86-70 win as the No. 5 Commodores upset No. 4 Texas.

"Prove me wrong that (Mikayla Blakes) is not the SEC Player of the Year and the national Player of the Year," Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph said postgame, while also saying Aubrey Galvan should be Freshman of the Year.

It might not be that simple because it will be difficult to take the top spot away from Strong -- the leader of the undefeated No. 1 team in the nation. But Blakes deserves serious consideration.

Thursday was her fourth-straight game with at least 30 points, which is impressive in itself but even more so because she is doing it against top competition. She officially joined former UConn star Paige Bueckers as the only two players with three consecutive 30+ points games against AP Top 25 opponents in the last 15 seasons.

Blakes is averaging 26.2 points per game and recently surpassed Iowa State's Audi Crooks as the Division I leading scorer for this season. One of her biggest strengths is her quick shooting release and high extension. Texas senior Rori Harmon is a solid on-ball defender, but Blakes still figured out how to shoot 9 of 19 from the field and 3 of 6 from beyond the arc on Thursday night. 

What Blakes did against the Longhorns was historic: her 34 points are the most scored against Texas in the Vic Schaefer era.

Blakes is a three-level scorer, but an often overlooked part of her game is her ability to defend. She is averaging around three steals per game, which puts her in the top 25 nationally. Last month, Blakes was named to the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year Watch List.

While Ralph has no doubt in her mind about the POY award, Blakes is not too concerned about it and is just trying to stay focused on her team's goals.

"Honestly, it's a great award but I think that's not my goal," Blakes told SportsCenter after Thursday's game. "I think my goal is just to do whatever my teammates need me to do. We want to go deep and far into the March Madness tournament and the SEC tournament. So whatever comes with that comes with that. But honestly I'm not really playing just for those awards. I'm playing for my teammates, my coaching staff and for Vanderbilt."

Last year, Blakes set a new NCAA freshman record by scoring 55 points and helped the Commodores return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade. This year, Vanderbilt looks strong enough to make it to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2009 and beyond.

Here are some other takeaways from the week in women's college hoops.

Vic Schaefer calls out Texas: 'Softest team I've had in years'

Thursday was only Texas' third loss of the season, but coach Vic Schaefer was not pleased with the effort he saw on the court. The Longhorns fell behind to Vanderbilt by 12 at the end of the first quarter, which was Texas' worst point differential in a first quarter in six seasons under Schaefer, per ESPN. Their 26-point deficit in the third quarter was also the first time they have been down by 20+ points this season. 

During the postgame press conference, Schaefer said his team needed to play with more heart.

"Just quite frankly, we had no heart," Schaefer said. "You want to ask me, what does it take to win at this level? What's it going to take for my team? You gotta have heart. We got no heart... I'm accountable. That's my team. It's so disappointing. It's probably the softest team I've had in years."

Olivia Miles sets career-high

Olivia Miles helped No. 17 TCU get a 83-67 road victory at No. 12 Baylor with a 40-point performance, a new career-high. Even more impressively is the fact that she did it by becoming the first Division-I women's basketball player in 25 years to make 10 3s on the road against a ranked opponent.

"This is why we play basketball, for moments like this," Miles said during her postgame interview.

It was also a big night for Marta Suarez. Her career-high 27 points meant Miles and Suarez combined for the same amount of points as the entire Baylor roster.

LeBron NXXT Gen by JuJu 

Even though JuJu Watkins is sidelined this season due to a torn ACL, the USC star is staying busy. She recently became the first athlete to co-create a sneaker within the Nike LeBron NXXT Gen line. The shoe will officially launch on March 12 on the Nike website and at select retailers globally.

To celebrate, Watkins held a shoe unveiling event in Watts, the community where she grew up. Meanwhile, LeBron James debuted the shoe during the Lakers' 105-99 win over Golden State last weekend. 

"Working with LeBron to co-create a first is wild," Watkins said in a statement. "It's built for my game, my story. Shaping something to share with the next generation of hoopers means everything."

Game to watch this weekend

No. 3 South Carolina at No. 6 LSU -- Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET on ABC/fubo)

This will be MiLaysia Fulwiley's first time facing the Gamecocks since transferring to LSU, and that alone should be fun to see. However, this is also one of those games that could have a significant impact in March. Although the LSU fell to Texas on Feb. 5, a win over South Carolina could still help the Tigers' case regarding a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The SEC has been extremely competitive this season, and things got even more interesting after Texas lost to Vanderbilt on Thursday night.