| vs. East Tennessee State (1-1) | at Chattanooga (0-1) |
|---|---|
| Tuesday, Dec. 8 • 7 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 13 • 1 p.m. CT |
| Memorial Gym (14,326) | McKenzie Arena (10,298) |
| Nashville, Tenn. | Chattanooga, Tenn. |
| Watch: SEC Network+ | Watch: ESPN+ |
| Listen: WNSR 560AM/95.9 FM TuneIn: Charlie Mattos (play-by-play) |
Listen: WNSR 560AM/95.9 FM TuneIn: Charlie Mattos (play-by-play) |
| Live Stats | Live Stats |
| Game Notes | Game Notes |
Battle Ground
- Vanderbilt is 6-2 all-time against Buccaneers, including six straight wins dating back to the 1980-81 season. The last meeting between the programs was four years ago to the day and Vanderbilt won 80-72 in Johnson City.
- For the first time since the second round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament, Vanderbilt will match up with Chattanooga. In that last meeting, the Commodores advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 60-44 win in Chattanooga.
Canceled Trio
- Tuesday will mark the home opener for the Commodores. Due to a lack of available student-athletes as a result of quarantining individuals with positive COVID-19 tests and those designated as close contacts, along with injuries, the first three games of the season were canceled—vs. Tennessee Tech (Nov. 25), at Middle Tennessee State (Nov. 29) and vs. Texas Tech (Dec. 2).
Dore Debuts
- South Florida transfer Enna Pehadzic shined in her first game in black and gold. She was second on the team in minutes played (34) and points (17) and she led the squad with a pair of threes (2-for-6), including 7-for-15 overall.
- Freshmen Bella LaChance and Emily Bowman made their collegiate debuts Saturday. LaChance played 10 minutes while Bowman scored six points in 24 minutes, finished 3 of 3 from the floor, grabbed seven rebounds (three offensive) and blocked three shots.
Hall Pass
- Senior guard Chelsie Hall led the team with 117 assists last season—the most for a Commodore since Minta Spears had 127 in 2015-16.
- Hall and Jordyn Cambridge (105 assists) were the first Commodore pair with 100 assists each since 2010-11 when Jasmine Lister (103) and Jence Rhoads (140) accomplished the feat.
- Hall can score, too. She is 80 points away from 1,000 for her career. She would be the 38th Commodore to reach that milestone and the first since Christa Reed and Rachel Bell (2014-18).
- Hall has started 39 straight games for the Commodores dating back to Feb. 3, 2019 at Tennessee.
Home Port
- The Commodores finished 10-6 at Memorial Gym last season (had nine wins in two previous seasons combined) with five of those six losses to top 25 opponents.
Sick Bay
- Cambridge, who led the SEC in steals last season, was injured in Vanderbilt’s SEC Tournament game last season and will miss the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
- Kyndall Golden (knee), Kaylon Smith (foot) and Kiara Pearl will also miss the start of the season.
- Autumn Newby has opted out for the season while Demi Washington is also out for the season.
- Last season, between Golden (25), Alexander (23), Pearl (8), LeaLea Carter (4), Newby (3) and Sarah Gordon (3), the Commodores had a combined 66 missed games due to injury. On Saturday, six of the 14 Commodores (43%) missed the season opener.
Debriefing
- Since the start of last season, Vanderbilt is 14-2 when holding opponents under 40 percent from the field (0-15 when not).
- Vandy has won 12 of its last 13 when scoring more than 70 points (only loss was season opener on Dec. 5).
- Since the start of the 2018-19 season, Vanderbilt has lost 22 straight games when being out-rebounded.
- Vanderbilt has won six of its last seven in December.
Incoming Class
- For the first time since 2016, Vanderbilt has three top 100 recruits in same recruiting class by any publication. Kendal Cheesman (Tampa, Fla.), De’Mauri Flournoy (Carrollton, Ga.) and Iyana Moore (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) each signed their letters of intent to make West End home in the Fall of 2021.
- Each signee has already reached 1,000 career points as they enter their senior seasons, and Prospects Nation has all three in its Top 100 recruits with Flournoy as the 51st-ranked player in the country, Cheesman is 78th and Moore is 84th.
Looking Astern
- A big second quarter run brought Vanderbilt within six of Little Rock on Saturday afternoon, but the Commodores couldn’t overcome the Trojans’ hot start in falling 82-74 in its season opener at the Jack Stephens Center.
- Love led the way for Vanderbilt with 24 points on 9 of 18 from the floor. She finished with a team-high 10 rebounds to mark the sixth double-double of her young career.
- Pehadzic and Hall rounded out Vandy’s list of double-digit scorers with Pehadzic scoring 17 points in her first game as a Commodore while Hall added 16.
A Vandy Win Would…
- … be the second straight in a home opener.
- … make the Commodores 10-1 at home against unranked opponents since start of last season.
- … be the seventh straight over East Tennessee State.
A Vandy Loss Would…
- … be the first to the Buccaneers since 1980.
- … be the first to a nonconference opponent at Memorial Gym since Nov. 13, 2019 against No. 4 UConn.
- … be less good than a win.
On Deck
- Vanderbilt will open its home slate with a matchup against East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
- Following a trip to Chattanooga on Dec. 13, the Commodores will wrap up the nonconference season with three straight home games between Dec. 17-28.
- Vanderbilt opens the SEC season on New Year’s Eve against Florida at Memorial Gym.
