Vanderbilt won its first SEC road game since January of 2020 by taking down Mississippi State, 71-66.
A quick drive to the basket by Iyana Moore got Vanderbilt going and foreshadowed her play for the rest of the night.
The Commodores then went on a 7-0 run over 1:40, but the Bulldogs countered with a 6-0 run of their own.
The two teams went back and forth and Vanderbilt closed the first quarter up by four, 18-14.
Mississippi State came out in the second quarter with a full-court press, which Vanderbilt struggled with. On top of the press, Vanderbilt gave up seven straight points and were quickly down by seven midway through the second quarter.
Vanderbilt then went on a surge before halftime. The Commodores found themselves on a 15-2 run. They led 20 minutes in, 36-33.
Vanderbilt opened the third quarter with two 3-point shots and then both sides were trading buckets, each hitting three shots in a row.
The Commodores would hold a six point lead to start the fourth quarter, but before the end of the quarter, Jordyn Cambridge was given her fourth foul.
Cambridge fouled out two minutes into the fourth quarter.
Vanderbilt's small lead quickly vanished and the game was tied at 58 only until Justine Pissott drilled a 3-pointer to give them the lead with four and a half minutes left to go.
Vanderbilt found itself scoreless for three minutes while its lead was cut to one with three minutes left to go.
The Commodores then played solid defense and did not allow a basket for 2:40 and extended their lead to five.
After extending the lead, Mississippi State elected to foul, and Vanderbilt capitalized.
The Commodores made all six of their free throws at the end of the fourth quarter to seal the deal.
Vanderbilt opened up SEC play with a win on the road, 71-66.
Three quick takes
Learn to limit mistakes
Vanderbilt made some mistakes early on that had to be fixed if it wanted to win. The Commodores committed 12 first half turnovers. Coming into the game, they averaged 13.6 turnovers per game.
Vanderbilt cleaned it up some, giving up eight second half turnovers. The issue is that it gave up 26 points off of turnovers to Mississippi State.
Part of the problem was the full court press that Mississippi State showed in the second quarter. Vanderbilt has not faced much of that type of pressure all season.
That is something the Commodores will see more of in SEC play and will have to learn to adapt to that pressure.
Perfect from the free throw line
Vanderbilt shot 100% from the free throw line, making all 10 attempts.
If a team wants to win on the road, a key to doing that is making free throws. Not only did Vanderbilt make its free throws, but did it late when they really mattered.
The Commodores shot six free throws at the end of the fourth quarter. Iyana Moore made all four of her attempts and Bella LaChance made her two attempts.
Not only were the free throws by LaChance massive, but they were just her third and fourth attempts all season.
Getting it done with Cambridge limited
Jordyn Cambridge was roped into foul trouble, limiting her to 23 minutes. She picked up her fifth foul with 8:37 left to go in the fourth quarter.
In the absence of Cambridge, Iyana Moore stepped up big. Moore finished the contest with a game-high 29 points and 5 rebounds.
Justine Pissott and Sacha Washington added nine points each to the win.
After missing the last game, Jordyn Oliver played a large role in the win. She recorded six points, four steals and nine rebounds, five of them being on the offensive glass.
