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AP women’s basketball player of the week is No. 5 Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes

The Associated Press national player of the week in women’s basketball for Week 17 of the season:

Mikayla Blakes, Iowa

The sophomore guard led No. 5 Vanderbilt to wins over Alabama and Tennessee last week, averaging 34.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists. She is the first SEC player in the past 26 years to have scored 30 or more points in a dozen games. She had 34 points against Tennessee and 35 against Alabama.

Runner-up

Olivia Olson, No. 8 Michigan. She led the Wolverines to wins over then-No. 13 Ohio State and 14th-ranked Maryland. Olson, a sophomore, had a career-high 31 points, including the game-winning layup in overtime, in the victory over the Buckeyes. She also had nine rebounds and four assists in that win. She followed that up with a 28-point effort against the Terrapins.

Honorable mention

Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame; Marta Suarez, No. 10 TCU; Riley Weiss, Columbia.

Keep an eye on

Marquette junior guard Skylar Forbes averaged 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in wins over Providence and Xavier. She had 24 in a road win over Providence, two off her career high. She scored 12 of her 19 points in the first half of a win over Xavier.

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Hawkeyes are set to play Vanderbilt in a November women’s basketball game in Sioux City, Iowa

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Vanderbilt and Iowa, both ranked in the top 10 late last season, will meet in a women's basketball game early next season in northwest Iowa, the schools announced Tuesday. The neutral-site game is set for Nov. 15 at the Tyson Events Center, which is 290 miles from Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Vanderbilt is 4-0 all-time against the Hawkeyes. This will be the teams' first meeting since 1997. The Commodores are expected to return national scoring leader Mikayla Blakes. She averaged 27 points per game and was Southeastern Conference player of the year. Vanderbilt was ranked as high as No. 5 and finished No. 10 with a 29-5 record after reaching the NCAA Sweet 16.
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