March 23, 2011
Final Game Notes 
| Final Stats | Season News Clippings
In a day and age where consistent winners are more difficult to find, Vanderbilt’s women’s basketball team keeps churning out wins. For the 12th straight season, Vanderbilt won 20 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Although the Commodores were unable to keep their streak alive of winning at least one game in the previous 11 NCAA Tournaments, Vanderbilt remains one of just eight programs to have advanced to the NCAA Tournament 12 straight seasons.
The 2010-11 season was one in which the highs outweighed the lows for the Commodores, which finished 20-12 overall and in third place in the SEC with a 10-6 league record. Although the team had two senior starters in Jence Rhoads and Hannah Tuomi, the team was particularly young with just four upperclassmen. Only Georgia had as few upperclassmen in the SEC as Vanderbilt did.
In addition to being young, the team also battled an unusually high number of injuries throughout the year, which played into Vanderbilt using 11 different starting lineups. In 14 of the team’s 32 games, at least one of its top five leading scorers was injured and did not play.
With the season coming to an end so did the careers of one of Vanderbilt’s most accomplished and memorable senior classes in Jence Rhoads, Rebecca Silinski and Hannah Tuomi. The class won more than 70 percent of its games, advanced to two sweet 16s and won an SEC Tournament title, but even more impressive than its ability on the court was the way it represented the program off it.
Rhoads departs Vanderbilt as one of the school’s most accomplished players. She is the only player in school history with 1,100 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds. The Slippery Rock, Pa., native was also the recipient of numerous awards during her career. Just this past season she earned WBCA Region 3 All-America honors and first team All-SEC accolades from the league’s head coaches.
Tuomi departs West End as one of the hardest working players ever to enter the program. An undersized post player, the Thornton, Colo., native topped 1,000 career points and averaged double figures in scoring her last three seasons at Vanderbilt. Her career field-goal percentage of .568 ranks sixth in school history.
Silinski leaves after a career that can not be properly judged by statistics. The Birmingham, Ala., native was an inspirational leader on the team that had a passion for serving others in the community and on campus.
Their departure will leave a massive void in the program, but many bright spots remain for the 2011-12 season. Three of Vanderbilt’s top five scorers were freshman from a year a go.
“Jasmine (Lister) has been starting and has been really consistent and probably been our most consistent player, and has brought a lot,” Head Coach Melanie Balcomb said. “(Christina) Foggie has had two concussions and concussion syndrome and been out of the lineup all year. Her first game on the road she had 21 points for us but it’s been a struggle getting back to that. I like that and having a 6’5” post player inside (Stephanie Holzer) who had a stress fracture in her back and was in and out all season as well. In the offseason if we can work on their strength and conditioning and keep them healthy, I think we have a lot of bright things to look forward to in that freshman class and our younger players for next season.”
There were many memorable moments for the team and individuals throughout the season. Here is a look at some of those moments throughout the season.
Year in Review
November
– Nov. 14 – Vanderbilt starts freshmen guards Jasmine Lister and Christina Foggie against Howard, marking the first time Vanderbilt has started two freshmen in the first game of the year since the 2003-04 season opener.
– Nov. 15 – Stephanie Holzer was named SEC Freshman of the Week after scoring 20 points and collecting 11 rebounds in 19 minutes against Howard.
– Nov. 21 – Vanderbilt starts freshmen Christina Foggie, Stephanie Holzer and Jasmine Lister at Florida State, marking the first time three freshmen started in the same game since March 3, 1983 when Dana Turner, Jackie Cowan and Donna Atkinson earned starts.
– Nov. 26 – Vanderbilt defeats Quinnipiac 111-53, topping the century mark for the first time since Nov. 23, 2007. VU scored a school-record 66 points in the second half and the 58-point margin of victory tied for the 12th largest margin in school history. Vanderbilt outscored Quinnipiac by 42 in the second half, which was the second largest margin in school history.
– Nov. 28 – Vanderbilt improved to 24-0 all-time in its annual Thanksgiving Tournament and 41-1 all-time in home tournament games by defeating Quinnipiac and Princeton.
December
– Dec. 7 – Head Coach Melanie Balcomb earned the 200th win of her Vanderbilt career against Southern Illinois. Balcomb became the third coach to reach 200 and the fastest to do so, reaching the mark five games faster than Jim Foster.
– Dec. 13 – Hannah Tuomi is named SEC Co-Player of the Week after averaging 22 points and 8 rebounds, while making 80 percent of her shots in wins against Southern Illinois and UT Martin. Tuomi scored a career-high 29 points against SIU.
– Dec. 19 – After starting the year 0-3 on the road, Vanderbilt gets a big win at Duquesne. The game was a homecoming for Jence Rhoads and Rebecca Silinski, both Keystone State natives. More than 300 friends and family were on hand to support the two.
– Dec. 21 – Vanderbilt finishes its non-conference home slate 7-0, marking the first undefeated non-conference home record since the 2006-07 season.
– Dec. 29 – Hannah Tuomi becomes the 32nd player to reach 1,000 career points in the team’s game against Delaware.
January
– Jan. 6 – Vanderbilt snaps a three-game losing skid to Mississippi State and earns its first SEC win of the season.
– Jan. 15 – Vanderbilt plays at Tennessee on ESPN College GameDay, becoming just the second women’s game to be featured on GameDay. Jence Rhoads became the 33rd player in school history to reach 1,000 career points.
– Jan. 20 – Vanderbilt earns its first win of the season over a ranked opponent, defeating No. 23/24 Arkansas, 65-54.
February
– Feb. 3 – Vanderbilt improves to 12-0 at home, matching its best home start in school history with a win over LSU.
– Feb. 6 – Vanderbilt wins a double-overtime thriller on Super Bowl Sunday at Florida. The double overtime game was its first since Feb. 3, 2005. The team’s combined for 200 points, which was the second most in school history. Three players scored 20-plus points for Vanderbilt that game, marking the first time since Nov. 19, 2004 that had occured.
– Feb. 7 – Stephanie Holzer becomes the first freshman to be named SEC Player of the Week since 2005 after averaging 23 points and six rebounds in wins against LSU and at Florida.
– Feb. 10 – Vanderbilt wins at Georgia to move from fourth in the SEC standings to second. Vanderbilt scored the game’s final nine points and Jasmine Lister had the final six.
– Feb. 15 – Former Commodores Chantelle Anderson becomes the second women’s player in school history to have her jersey retired. Vanderbilt also held its first ever Women’s Basketball Reunion. All events took place in front of a crowd of 11,386, the 14th largest in school history.
– Feb. 17 – Vanderbilt’s win at Mississippi State was the program’s 200th all-time SEC victory. Only three other SEC teams have 200 wins. Against the Bulldogs, Jence Rhoads became the second player in school history with 1,000 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds.
– Feb. 24 – Vanderbilt’s home game against Florida is postponed due to inclement weather.
– Feb. 25 – Less than 24 hours after the postponment, Vanderbilt plays Florida at 5 p.m. in what was Senior Night for Jence Rhoads, Rebecca Silinski and Hannah Tuomi. Silinski is surprised before the game by the appearance of her sister, who is battling Lyme disease and had never attended a game at Memorial Gym.
– Feb. 27 – Vanderbilt rallies from 10 points down to win at South Carolina in overtime and claim third place in the SEC. A loss would have meant Vanderbilt would have finished fifth in the SEC. Vanderbilt’s win was its fourth in a row on the road after starting the season 1-5 on the road.
March
– March 1 – Jence Rhoads was named first team All-SEC by the league’s coaches and Stephanie Holzer and Jasmine Lister were named to the SEC All-Freshman team. Holzer was also tabbed as SEC Sixth Woman of the Year.
– March 4 – Vanderbilt tops Mississippi State in the SEC quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals for the fifth straight year. Vanderbilt has won at least one game in the SEC Tournament the last 12 seasons. The win was also Vanderbilt’s 20th of the season.
– March 6 – Tiffany Clarke was named to the SEC All-Tournament Team after averaging 20.5 points and 13.0 rebounds in two games.
– March 14 – Vanderbilt is selected to its 24th NCAA Tournament, receiving a 10th seed in the Spokane Regional.
– March 15 – Jence Rhoads is named second team All-SEC by the league’s media and Stephanie Holzer is named honorable mention.
– March 16 – Jence Rhoads is selected as a WBCA Region 3 All-American.
– March 20 – Vanderbilt’s season comes to an end in Cincinnati for the second year in a row as Vanderbilt is defeated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Louisville.
