Mikayla Blakes and Hannah Hidalgo bring high-scoring flair to Vanderbilt-Notre Dame in March Madness
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Mikayla Blakes thinks of her Sweet 16 showdown with Hannah Hidalgo more as Vanderbilt against Notre Dame than a matchup of two of the nation's top three scorers. Commodores coach Shea Ralph would expect exactly that mentality from the Division I scoring leader, even during March Madness and the Fort Worth Regional 1 semifinals on Friday. “You probably would have to be laying down on the ground not to be excited about what’s going to happen tomorrow and being at this point in the season,” Ralph said.
“I think Mikayla is motivated internally by lots of different things that don’t have anything to do with certain matchups or other players. She finds her joy and her motivation outside of that. ” The coach knows her player well.
“I take it how I take every game, just focus on the team really,” said Blakes, who just missed her first career triple-double with 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a 75-57 win over Illinois to reach the Sweet 16. “We have to be together as a team offensively and defensively. Whatever it takes for me to do that, I’m willing to do.
It’s not really, like, I’m looking like I have to do this, I have to do that. I’m going to play freely. ” Blakes, at 27.
0 points per game, and the Fighting Irish's Hidaldo, third in the country with an average of 25. 2 points, are the top two scorers still standing in the NCAA Tournament. Iowa State's Audi Crooks is second at 25.