NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team begins Year 3 of the Shea Ralph era on Monday at Memorial Gymnasium, as the Commodores are slated to take on Kennesaw State. The 2023-24 season opener is set to tip-off at 11 a.m. on SEC Network+.
Starting Five
>> Vanderbilt is coming off a 2022-23 campaign that saw the Commodores go 12-19 overall. Vandy brings back four players from last season’s roster, while also welcoming back graduate student Jordyn Cambridge and junior Iyana Moore after both missed the 2022-23 season due to injury. The Dores bring in a total of seven newcomers, which includes transfers Jordyn Oliver (Duke) and Justine Pissott (Tennessee), along with five freshmen.
>> Graduate student Jordyn Cambridge returns to the court this season after missing the 2022-23 campaign due to injury. The last time the 5-9 guard played a full season, she was named to the All-SEC Defensive Team for the second time in her career after setting the school’s single-season steals record with 129. Cambridge enters this season ranked eighth all-time in steals in Vanderbilt history with 234.
>> Vanderbilt enters Year 3 under the direction of head coach Shea Ralph. The Commodores had to battle injuries throughout coach Ralph’s second season in Nashville, but Vandy was still able to record double-digit wins for the second-straight season with 12 victories. It is the first time that Vanderbilt has recorded back-to-back double-digit win seasons since the 2015-16 and 2016-17 campaigns.
>> The Commodores will host Kennesaw State at Memorial Gymnasium for the 2023-24 season opener. It will be the second game played between the Commodores and the Owls all time. The last meeting ironically came back during the 2016-17 season opener, with Vanderbilt picking up the 86-54 victory in Memorial Gymnasium.
>> Coach Ralph comes into Monday’s game looking to join Melanie Balcomb as the only Vanderbilt women’s basketball head coaches to win three-straight season openers to begin their career. Vandy is a perfect 2-0 in season-opening contests under coach Ralph. The Commodores picked up a 75-59 win over Gardner-Webb in the 2021-22 season opener at Memorial Gymnasium, then scored an 82-71 win at Western Kentucky last season.
Game Coverage
Monday’s contest against Kennesaw State will stream live on SEC Network+ via the Watch ESPN app with Andrew Allegreta and Samantha Kincaid on the call. Fans can also listen to Jake Lyman call all the action locally on 94.5 The Fan and on the Vanderbilt Commodores app outside of Nashville.
Gameday Information
Click the link here for the latest gameday information entrance, construction, parking, and ticketing information at Memorial Gymnasium.
Education Day
It will be Education Day at Memorial Gymnasium this Monday. Vanderbilt will host several elementary and middle school students to help ring in the new basketball season. Fans can purchase tickets to Monday’s season opener by clicking the link here.
Preseason SEC Honors for Cambridge
The media named graduate student Jordyn Cambridge to the 2023-24 Preseason All-SEC second team. The 5-9 guard returns after missing the 2022-23 season due to injury. The last time she was on the court, Cambridge averaged a career-best 10.7 points, 4.4 assists, and 3.9 steals per game during the 2021-22 campaign. The two-time All-SEC defensive team selection holds Vanderbilt’s single-season record for steals, collecting 129 steals during the 2021-22 season.
Returning Fire Power
Vanderbilt has a pair of double-digit scorers returning to the roster that missed the 2022-23 season, with graduate student Jordyn Cambridge and junior Iyana Moore being granted a new bill of health this season. The duo averaged a combined 23.4 points per game in their last healthy season on the court in 2021-22. Moore chipped in 12.7 points per game en route to an All-SEC Freshman Team selection, while Cambridge was putting up 10.7 points per contest and earned a spot on the 2021-22 All-SEC Defensive Team. Junior Sacha Washington also brings back 11.1 points and a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game from a season ago.
A Triple-Double Threat
Graduate student Jordyn Cambridge is just one of two SEC players heading into the 2023-24 season that has recorded a triple-double in their career. Cambridge’s triple-double performance came in the first round of the 2022 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament, where she had 15 rebounds, 13 points, and 10 assists vs. Texas A&M. She is just the second player in SEC history to post a triple-double at the SEC Tournament, joining Georgia’s Terese Edwards Georgia (1986).
Incoming Transfers
Vanderbilt landed two players out of the transfer portal this offseason, as head coach Shea Ralph and the Commodores welcome in graduate student Jordyn Oliver from Duke and sophomore Justine Pissott from Tennessee. Both are former McDonald’s All-American selections, with Oliver earning the honor back in 2019 and Pissott being selected to the 2022 team. Both players bring NCAA Tournament experience to Memorial Gym, as Oliver and Pissott helped their respective programs collected a win in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
Pacing the SEC
Jordyn Cambridge enters the 2023-24 season as the SEC’s active leader in steals with 234. The 5-9 guard also has the second-most assists among active SEC players with 291 career assists.
Experienced Backcourt
Vanderbilt’s projected starting backcourt will feature a pair of players who have logged over 80 career games at the NCAA Division I level. Graduate student Jordyn Cambridge has played in 87 games in her Vanderbilt career, while fellow graduate student Jordyn Oliver, who is in her first year with the Dores after transferring from Duke, has logged 81 career games.
She’ll Take That
Jordyn Cambridge enters the 2023-24 season with the eighth-most steals in Vanderbilt history with 234 career steals. The Nashville, Tennessee, native is 105 steals away from breaking the Commodore’s all-time steals record of 338 steals, which is currently held by Deborah Denton (1986-89).
SEC Projections
Vanderbilt will be out to prove the preseason prognosticators wrong this year. The Commodores were selected to finish 13th in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll and 14th in the SEC Media Poll.
Scouting the Owls
Kennesaw State is coming into the 2023-24 season after a 15-16 campaign a year ago. KSU is entering Year 3 under head coach Octavia Blue, while the Owls are playing their last season in the Atlantic Sun Conference before moving the Conference USA next year. Kennesaw State was recently selected fifth in the ASUN preseason poll.
Senior guard Carly Hooks is Kennesaw State’s top returning scorer, as she averaged 9.0 points per game last season. The senior scored double-digit points in 12 games and shot 35.7% from the floor last season. In total, the Owls return eight players from last season’s 15-win squad.
Kennesaw State averaged 67.7 points per game and shot 40.0% from the field as a team a year ago. Defensively, KSU gave up 67.2 points per game to its opposition. Teams shot 40.5% against the Owls, while Kennesaw State limited teams to 31.6% from behind the arc.
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