#22 Vanderbilt drops Kentucky, 65-57 1-9-04

#22 Vanderbilt drops Kentucky, 65-57 1-9-04

1/9/2004 Carla Thomas tallies her first career double-double for the ‘Dores

The Vanderbilt Commodores continued their recent dominance of the Kentucky Wildcats Thursday night in Memorial Gym with a dramatic 65-57 victory in front of 2,303 fans. UK has now lost seven straight to the ‘Dores and has not won in Memorial Gym in 17 years. Freshman forward Carla Thomas’ tough play, clutch free throws, and the first double-double of her career, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, helped lift the Vanderbilt women to 13-1 overall and 1-0 in the SEC.

Off the opening tip, juniors Ashley Earley and Abi Ramsey each scored a bucket to stake the Commodores to an early 4-0 advantage as Kentucky started 0-6 from the floor.
 
UK senior Shambrica Jones tallied the Wildcats first points of the evening almost 3:30 into the contest and following that deuce with two more as the Blue and White forged a six-all tie.  The forward had scored all of UK’s points.

Neither team was shooting with much authority at the 12:45 mark of the first half as UK was 3-11 for 27.3%, while the Commodores were 3-of-8 for a .375 clip.

After an Angela Phillips transition lay-up for UK, freshman Carla Thomas answered for VU to knot the count at 8-8.  That occurrence marked the first of three ties over the next few minutes as both squads took turns holding the advantage. 

Vanderbilt quickly showed why it is 12-1 on the season by igniting on a quick 14-3 run that covered four minutes midway through the half. The Wildcats committed four fouls during the run (and 12 in the first period) resulting in six VU charity tosses. Six different Commodores scored during the spurt that pushed the ‘Dores ahead for good.

After missing the last five games with a “stress reaction” in her right foot, freshman Dee Davis entered the game and immediately drew a blocking foul on UK.  The guard also converted her charity tosses as VU took its largest lead so far at 24-15.

Kentucky tried to mount a run, behind consecutive buckets from Danyelle Payne and Angela Phillips, but was immediately countered by four straight tallies from Vanderbilt’s Thomas as VU moved back in front by nine at 28-19 with 3:55 to go.

Phillips scored a late bucket for UK as Vanderbilt headed into the locker room up 30-24.

Turnovers were a key in the opening 20 minutes as both teams combined for 15 miscues.  The Big Blue, who came into today’s match shooting a blistering 44.4% from the floor, were held to 31.3%. VU’s 10 made free throws in the opening frame bested Kentucky’s two.

Freshman Angela Phillips led all scorers with 12 points to lead the ‘Cats. Junior Ashley Earley led the ‘Dores with eight.

Wildcat senior SeSe Helm, UK’s leading scorer averaging 16.4 points per game, didn’t tally her first bucket in the contest until four minutes into the second half. Despite her lack of productivity, Kentucky trailed VU by just two in the points in the paint at the half.

VU’s defensive presence forced a one-for-nine shooting performance by UK in the first four and a half minutes of the second frame. However, the Commodores would also commit six turnovers in the same time period, resulting in only four combined points in the first 4:30 of the period to make the score 32-26. Four minutes later, turnovers by VU and poor shooting by Kentucky set the tally at just 34-28. Vanderbilt’s field goal percentage dropped to 32% and the ‘Cats were shooting a meager 27%.

Helm would make a short jumper to push the score to 34-30, closing the Vanderbilt gap and prompting VU coach Melanie Balcomb to send in senior Jenni Benningfield, who had been absent the previous game with a “stress reaction” in her right foot.

Freshman Katie Antony ignited an offensive flurry by hitting a clutch jumper to make the score 39-33 and then driving to the lane, getting fouled, and making two free throws to put the ‘Dores ahead by eight. Earley drove the ball hard inside, was fouled, and converted the one-and-one to push the ‘Dores to their largest lead of the game at 43-33 with nine minutes to play. The Big Blue then badly missed a shot and Earley hauled down her tenth rebound of the game to ensure her fifth double-double of the season. She finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The ‘Cats did bounce back offensively, capitalizing on back-to-back possessions to mount a quick 6-0 run. Junior guard Sara Potts hit a three pointer to pull the squad to within four at 43-39. Commodore forward Hillary Hager then drove to the basket and scored to push VU’s lead back to six. Thomas converted on two free throws to make the score 47-39. Earley subbed in for Benningfield, resulting in a raucous ovation from the crowd in attendance. UK would get no closer than six points the rest of the way as Vanderbilt dramatically slowed down the game’s tempo.

Thomas was the key in fighting off the Kentucky comeback. She finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. She was 8-8 from the line to spark the Commodores’ best free throw shooting game in terms of free throws made (25) and free throw percentage (92.6% on 25-27 shooting from the line).

Vanderbilt once again dominated inside, outscoring Kentucky 30-18 in the paint. However, the Black and Gold also turned the ball over 20 times. Luckily, the ‘Dores limited Kentucky to just 31.3% from the field, the second lowest performance by a VU opponent this season.

Antony had a career high 14 points to go along with four assists. She was perfect from the field (3-3) and hit all eight of her free throws.

Hager finished with 10 points and eight rebounds and played all but two minutes of the game. She was one rebound shy of matching her season best (nine).

Phillips scored 15 for the Wildcats. Senior Shambrica Jones kicked in 12 points and had a team-high seven rebounds (three offensive). Sophomore Jenny Pfeiffer added another 11 points.

Junior Sara Potts tallied three steals in tonight’s game, one shy of a season high, but had her worst shooting performance of the season at just 15% on 2-13 shooting.

Helm finished the game with only six points on 3-10 shooting to mark her second lowest offensive output of the season. Four turnovers and five fouls plagued her throughout just 16 minutes of play.

Next, the Black and Gold travel south to Gainesville, Florida, to take on the Gators this Sunday, January 11. The teams will square off at 2:00 p.m. Central Time at the O’Connell Center.