NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt’s Ciaja Harbison found Marnelle Garraud streaking down the court for a layup to open the game against Kentucky. Demi Washington drained a 3-pointer to score the final points for the Commodores.
It was a fitting bookend to a day when Vanderbilt women’s basketball celebrated its seniors.
Graduate guards Harbison and Garraud combined for 47 points as Vanderbilt used a half-straddling scoring blitz to pull away from the Wildcats in a 79-57 victory on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium.
Vanderbilt (12-16, 3-11 SEC) embarked on a 24-2 run bridging the second and third quarters, including the first 14 points of the second half, to take control and move ahead of Kentucky (10-16, 2-12 SEC) in the SEC standings.
“I know it’s been a year full of adversity for our team, but that doesn’t define us,” Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph said. “I think our response to that defines us, and today they responded really well in the second half and I am just really happy for our seniors that we came away with a win.”
Harbison finished with a game-high 24 points on 8 of 17 shooting, five assists and four steals. Garraud scored 18 of her 23 points in the second half and was 9 of 17 from the field. It was the first time both have scored 20-plus points in the same game, and both finished with a game-high five assists.
Coming off a career-high scoring performance against Alabama, Vandy sophomore Sacha Washington had a season-best rebounding performance against Kentucky. Washington finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds for her second straight double-double.
The teams played a low-scoring first half, combining for 26 turnovers and missing 35 shot attempts. Sacha Washington helped put an end to a 7-0 Kentucky run in the first quarter by blocking two shots and then dishing a pretty bounce pass to a cutting Harbison for a layup to pull the Dores within 13-11.
After Kentucky took a six-point lead in the second quarter, Vanderbilt’s offense began to hit its stride. The Commodores ended the half on a 10-2 run to take a 24-22 lead with Harbison and Sacha Washington combining to score all 10 points in the run.
Vandy exploded out of the gates in the second half with 14 straight points to expand the run to 24-2. Garraud launched the outburst with three consecutive layups to start the third quarter. Garraud finished the quarter with 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting.
The Wildcats finally halted the run with a free throw by Amiya…