Dec. 27, 2011
Vandy Game Notes (vs. Western Carolina) 
The No. 25/21 Vanderbilt women’s basketball team (11-1) hosts Western Carolina (4-7, 0-4 Southern) on Thursday, December 29. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at Memorial Gym and the game can be heard in Nashville on WNSR 560 AM, as well as seen on VUCommodores.com as part of Vanderbilt All-Access.
Scouting the Commodores
The Commodores rebounded from their first defeat of the season to win over Florida State, 64-59, in their last outing. Vanderbilt used strong defense and rebounding to secure the win and improve to 11-1. Redshirt center Stephanie Holzer led the way against the Seminoles, scoring 17 points and matching a career-high with 13 rebounds. Christina Foggie added a game high 18 points, while Jasmine Lister scored 10 and dished out six assists. Holzer and her fellow post players held Florida State’s leading scorer, Cierra Bravard, to four points. Bravard was honorable mention All-America a season ago and was leading the Seminoles with 17.5 ppg. Vanderbilt is led in scoring by 16.9 points from Foggie, while Lister is averaging 13.7 ppg and Holzer is posting 12.4 ppg. Holzer is the team’s leading rebounder, pulling down 7.0 per contest, while Lister is averaging 5.6 assist per contest. The Western Carolina game is Vanderbilt’s final non-conference game of the season.
Scouting the Catamounts
Western Carolina will travel to Nashville with a 4-7 record, including a 0-4 mark in Southern Conference play. Their most recent outing was a 64-58 loss at SoCon foe Chattanooga. The Catamounts were led by 26 points from Kaila’Shea Menendez, who is Western Carolina’s leading scorer at 12.0 ppg. Makensey Campbell added 12 points off the bench in the loss. Alex Abraham is the team’s leading rebounder at 4.8 rpg, while Rena Wakama has the team lead in assists with 1.9 apg. Third-year Head Coach Karen Middleton’s squad won four of their first six games, but have since dropped five straight, including their first four SoCon games. Vanderbilt is the only BCS conference school Western Carolina will play this season.
Vanderbilt vs. Western Carolina – The Series
This will be the second meeting between Vanderbilt and Western Carolina and the first in the regular season. The teams met in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament in Albuquerque, N.M., with the Commodores taking a 73-44 win en route to their most recent Sweet 16 appearance. The only Vanderbilt player still on the roster from that game is Jordan Coleman, who scored four points and grabbed six rebounds in 14 minutes of action. Two Catamounts remain who saw action in the game. Kaila’Shea Menendez scored four points in 11 minutes, while Diamond Hunnicutt played five minutes.
Commodores vs. Southern Conference
Vanderbilt has posted a 9-0 record against members of the SoCon. The most common opponent from the league has been Georgia Southern, with the Commodores taking wins in three meetings. They are also 2-0 against both Davidson and Samford and have scored single wins over Furman and Western Carolina. Vanderbilt has never played Appalachian State, the College of Charleston, The Citadel, Elon, UNC Greensboro, Tennessee-Chattanooga or Wofford.
On-Deck
Vanderbilt begins Southeastern Conference play on Thursday, January 5, when they travel to South Carolina. Tipoff in Columbia, S.C., is set for 6:00 p.m. CT. Vanderbilt has posted an all-time record of 201-144 in SEC play, one of four programs with 200-plus SEC wins. The Commodores were picked to finish sixth by the league’s coaches and fifth by local and national media.
