Vanderbilt Commodores Women’s Basketball Star Makes Wooden Midseason Cut
Vanderbilt Commodores sophomore Khamil Pierre was one of 25 players to make the midseason Top 25 for the John R. Wooden Award, as announced by the Los Angeles Athletic Club on Tuesday.
The cut is part of the process for determining the winner of the award, which is one of several national player of the year awards and is named after the legendary UCLA coach.
Entering Thursday’s game at Ole Miss, the 6-2 forward is averaging 22.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 3.5 steals per game as the Commodores (14-2, 1-1 in SEC) are off to a great start this season. Vanderbilt is coming off a 96-78 loss to Kentucky on Sunday.
The Commodores are seeking a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament under coach Shea Ralph.
As of Tuesday, Pierre was the only player in all of NCAA Division I to average over 22.0 points and 10.5 rebounds this season.
She ranks second in Division I in made field goals (148) and double-doubles (11), while she is featured in the top 10 nationally in seven other categories.
In addition, Pierre was the only women’s basketball player to rank inside the top 10 in scoring (7th; 22.8 ppg), steals (8th; 3.47 spg), and rebounding (9th; 10.9 rpg).
She helped build her national reputation with her performance against Evansville on Dec. 14, as she finished the game with 42 points, 18 rebounds, and eight steals.
Her 42-point performance set a new program record for most points scored in a single game, passing the previous mark of 41 points shared by Chantelle Anderson (Feb. 8, 2001) and Ciaja Harbison (Jan. 29, 2023).
Pierre’s combined 60 points and rebounds are the most collected by a Vanderbilt women’s basketball player in a game in program history.
In addition to the Wooden Award midseason list, Pierre has been named the SEC player of the week twice this season, along with selection to the USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale national players of the week squad for the Week of Dec. 17.
Thursday’s game with Ole Miss is set to start at 6:30 p.m. central and will be broadcast on ESPN+. Pierre hopes to combine with the Commodores’ incredible freshman, Mikayla Blakes, who is leading all Division I freshmen in points per game.
She recently scored 36 points to set a new single-game record for Vanderbilt freshmen.
