Last year, the inaugural Coretta Scott King Classic emanated from the Prudential Center in Newark. The event was nationally broadcasted on Fox and featured four of the premier teams in the women’s college game – UCLA, Texas, Maryland and Baylor.
This year’s four-team field for the Coretta Scott King Classic included Ohio State, TCU, Vanderbilt and Michigan. The Buckeyes, Horned Frogs, Commodores and Wolverines were all ranked in the Top 15 heading into Monday’s matchups in Newark.
First up were Ohio State and TCU. Late in the game, a pair of free throws from Olivia Miles put TCU ahead by a margin of 66-65 before a 5-0 scoring binge allowed the Buckeyes to assume a 70-66 edge.
A Horned Frogs 3-pointer made it a one-point game but the Buckeyes barely managed to outlast the Buckeyes as the scoreboard read 71-69 at the game’s conclusion.
Instrumental in the Buckeyes earning their 18th victory of the season was Chance Gray. She logged 34 minutes of court time for Ohio State and turned in a 22-point, four-rebound performance. She connected on six of her eight attempts from deep.
Ohio State’s entire starting five was instrumental in Monday’s victory over TCU. That included Jaloni Cambridge who played all 40 minutes. She not only tallied 18 points but dished out eight assists and brought down six rebounds. Cambridge also added two steals to the Buckeyes’ cause.
Contributing 17 points, seven rebounds, six blocks and five assists to that same cause was Elsa Lemmilä. She played in 38 minutes. Ohio State also benefitted from the nine points, four rebounds and four steals that were contributed by Kennedy Cambridge.
TCU’s starting five proved to be the nucleus of its efforts as well. That included Olivia Miles who would lead all point-getters for Monday’s matchup with 24 points. Her 11 rebounds gave Miles a double-double and her seven assists had her three shy of a triple-double. Miles also contributed two steals and one block to TCU’s efforts. Miles also connected on 11 of her 12 tries from the free throw line.
Taylor Bigby also had herself a big game. Bigby played in 34 minutes and contributed 14 points and four rebounds to the Horned Frogs’ cause. Bigby was successful on four of her six tries from distance.
Clara Silva greatly helped TCU’s rebounding efforts as well. She scored 12 points, but particularly did plenty of work on the offensive glass. Six of Silva’s eight rebounds were offensive boards. Donovyn Hunter concluded Monday’s game with eight points and Marta Suárez added another seven rebounds.
Veronica Sheffey gave TCU valuable scoring depth off the bench as she added nine points to the Horned Frogs’ total.
It was Big Ten vs. Big 12 in the first matchup and the second would feature Big Ten vs. SEC.
Vanderbilt built a 47-30 advantage at the break. A ferocious Michigan took place in the second half but timely offense from the Commodores allowed them to hold off the Wolverines by the slim three-point margin.
The victory allowed the Commodores to preserve its undefeated record – one that stayed intact until recently when Vanderbilt was on the wrong end of a 103-74 loss to South Carolina.
Playing all 40 minutes was Aubrey Galvan and she led Vanderbilt’s attack with 20 points. Galvan was successful on three of her six attempts from distance. Galvan also made an impact on defense with a pair of steals.
A pair of Vandy starters would contribute 14 to the team’s efforts. One of those was Justine Pissott who also made four of her 10 tries from distance. Pissott also brought down eight rebounds and dished five assists in addition to a pair of blocks.
Containing Mikayla Blakes is key for any team looking to earn a victory over the Commodores – which has not been done so far in 2025-26. Blakes, in addition to her 14 points, also finished with four dimes.
Sacha Washington would score nine points, haul in six rebounds and send out four assists plus collect a pair of steals in the more than 23 minutes that she was on the court. Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda also helped the Commodores’ rebounding efforts with five. Aiyana Mitchell added rebounding and scoring depth off the bench. She played nearly 23 minutes and scored seven points in addition to bringing down six rebounds.
As for Michigan, Syla Swords paced the Wolverines’ attack. Swords concluded her day at the Coretta Scott King Classic with 16 points and four assists. She also connected on four of her nine tries from behind the 3-point line.
Michigan also had another 16-point scorer that came from its bench, Kendall Dudley was that 16-point scorer and her performance also included four assists, four rebounds, one blocked shot and one steal in the more than 23 minutes she had on the court.
Olivia Olson added 14 points and seven rebounds as she played in 34 minutes. Olson also made all four of her free throw attempts in a game that saw the Wolverines only attempt eight tries from the charity stripe as a team.
A key name leading the defensive efforts for the Wolverines was Brooke Q. Daniels. She not only finished her game with 10 rebounds and seven points, but she also collected a total of four steals. Six of Daniels’ 10 rebounds were offensive boards.
