The game was settled long before the final horn in Nashville. By halftime on Wednesday night, Vanderbilt led Queens 73-11 at Memorial Gymnasium, and the crowd of 2,806 spent much of the night watching a result that was already decided. Still, Mikayla Blakes’ night was worth tracking closely. By the next morning, the sports world had put a number on it.

On Thursday, ESPN Insights shared a graphic on X showing her 24 points, five rebounds, and three steals against Queens. The post said she was “doing what she does best” and shared it as her 17th 20-point game, “the longest active streak in Division I.”

The box score shows how she got there. Blakes made nine of 17 shots, including four of nine from three, and went 2-for-2 at the line. She added three assists to her five rebounds and three steals in 23 minutes. 

Most of the damage came early. She scored 10 points with four rebounds and two steals in the first quarter, when Vanderbilt led 38-4. She had 22 points, three assists, and three steals at halftime, and the team was +51 while she was on the floor. After the break, she added just two points with the Commodores far ahead.

The rest of the team did plenty too. Vanderbilt won 100-42, shot 55.7%  and forced 36 turnovers, scoring 56 points off them. Mia Woolfolk had 16 points, Olivia Jones 15 and Aubrey Galvan 13, while Aiyana Mitchell added 10 off the bench. That made five Commodores in double figures. Queens shot just 34% and fell to 0-2.

That spread is what Blakes said she wanted. 

Before the season, she told The Associated Press, “My role is going to change,” because Vanderbilt has so many good scorers. “So I feel like doing whatever the team needs me to do and continue to read defenses really well,” she added.

Coach Shea Ralph has spent the preseason moving players around to help her use every part of her game.

The Queens game also was not her first big night of the week. In Monday’s 112-53 season opener over Lipscomb, Blakes scored 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting. She added nine rebounds and six assists, and the Commodores won by 59. Put the two games together, and she is 2-for-2 on 20-point nights this season.

Why the streak fits Blakes’ resume

The streak ESPN pointed to is not a new habit. Last season, Blakes scored 20 or more points in 29 games, the most in the nation. She had 30-plus points in 13 games, which also led the country. She finished with 918 points, an SEC single-season record and an NCAA sophomore record.

She is also the reigning SEC Player of the Year and Vanderbilt’s first preseason All-American since Chantelle Anderson in 2002-03.

Another streak is running alongside it. After the Lipscomb game, Vanderbilt said Blakes had scored in double figures in 54 straight games, the longest run by a Commodore this century. Her 24 points against Queens make it 55.

Blakes has also said she plans to stay at Vanderbilt for four years. She called a Final Four or a championship a realistic goal for this team, and said getting her degree is a big reason she is in no hurry to leave.

So when ESPN Insights said she was doing what she does best, the numbers had plenty to back it up. Two games into her junior season, Blakes has opened with a 27-point night and a 24-point night, and the streak the graphic pointed to is still alive.