Bulldogs, Crimson Tide Up Next

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Battle Grounds
vs. Mississippi State
• Vanderbilt holds a 36-21 all-time advantage over Mississippi State in a series that dates back to an 81-66 Commodores victory over the Bulldogs during the 1977-78 season.
• Vanderbilt has lost six in a row in this series. The last win for the Commodores was a 78-62 victory in Memorial Gym on Jan. 11, 2015.
• Vanderbilt is 19-4 all-time against Mississippi State inside Memorial Gymnasium.

at Alabama
• Vanderbilt holds a 34-16 all-time advantage over Alabama, but the Commodores have lost the last four. Vanderbilt’s last win against Alabama was Jan. 26, 2017­—an 87-80 victory in Memorial Gymnasium—and the last win in Tuscaloosa, where Vandy holds a 13-8 series lead, was a 54-48 win on Jan. 10, 2016.
• Prior to dropping the last four against Alabama, Vanderbilt had won 21 of the previous 23 matchups.
• The series dates back to 1978 when the Crimson Tide won the first matchup, 88-69.

Full Steam Ahead
• Vanderbilt ranks No. 12 in the nation in total rebounds, and No. 13 in the country with 43.4 rebounds per game.
• Vanderbilt has out-rebounded 15 of its 19 opponents.
• Vanderbilt is 12-0 when holding opponents under 40 percent from the field (0-6 when not).
• The Commodores are 6-0 when they have fewer turnovers than their opponent.
• Vandy is 11-2 when shooting better than 40 percent.
• Vandy is 12-2 when scoring more than 60 points (0-4 when scoring fewer).
• Vanderbilt is 4-1 on the weekends this year and 8-5 on school nights.
• Eight different players have started at least one game for the Commodores.
• Vanderbilt’s 10 nonconference wins matched the most in the Coach Stephanie White era (also went 10-3 in 2016-17).
• Vanderbilt’s win at Washington was its first Pac-12 road win since 2012 at USC.

Court Martial
• Sophomore Jordyn Cambridge enters the weekend No. 15 in the nation and first in the SEC in steals. She has 53 steals in 18 games this season after she totaled 20 steals in 24 games as a freshman last year.
• Cambridge is the first Commodore with 50 steals in a season since Jennifer Risper stole 81 in 2008-09.
• Cambridge was the first Commodore with seven steals in a game (Nov. 17 vs. Saint Louis) since Risper on Nov. 23, 2008 against Michigan.
• Cambridge leads all SEC players listed at 5-foot-9 or shorter with 103 rebounds this season and averages 5.7 rebounds per game (42 rebounds and 1.8 per game last season). She has at least five rebounds in 12 of 18 games and has led the team in rebounding three times.

Plan of Attack
• White’s halftime adjustments have been evident. Vanderbilt has won the third quarter in 12 of its 18 games. Excluding the games against three Top 25 opponents, the Commodores are +106 in the third quarter (281-175). That averages to an eight-point advantage (20-12) after halftime.

Home Port
• The Commodores are 8-3 at Memorial Gym this season (nine wins in two previous seasons combined) with all three losses to Top 25 opponents.
• Vanderbilt is 12-4 in games played in the USA this season.
• The Commodores did not leave the friendly confines of the Music City for their first six games. Vanderbilt opened the season with five straight home games and the first road contest of the season was at Tennessee State (Nov. 25).
• The first time the Commodores left Nashville this season was on a flight to the Bahamas. Vanderbilt played Rutgers and Seton Hall at the Junkanoo Jam in Bimini, Nov. 28-29.
• The only other road contests for the Commodores in the nonconference season were in Seattle, Washington. Vanderbilt won the Husky Classic with wins over UC Irvine (Dec. 20) and host Washington (Dec. 21).

SEC Sweep
• On Dec. 23, Vanderbilt swept the SEC weekly awards. It was the first Commodores sweep since Christina Foggie (player) and Kady Schrann (freshman) on Jan. 23, 2012.
• Vandy  is the only program to sweep the awards this year.
• Mariella Fasoula was Vanderbilt’s first SEC Player of the Week since Jasmine Lister in 2014.
• Koi Love became the first Vanderbilt player to win back-to-back SEC Freshman of the Week honors.
• Love is second among SEC freshmen in points per game (13.6). Florida’s Lavender Briggs leads the league but has played 200 more minutes than Love, who is also second among SEC freshmen in field goal percentage (.515) and third in rebounds (111) behind two Gamecocks.

Preseason Polls
• Vanderbilt was picked to finish 14th in the preseason SEC media poll and predicted to finish 12th by the SEC coaches.

Alexander the Sophomore
• Sophomore Brinae Alexander scored in double figures in her first six games this season and was Vanderbilt’s leading scorer before her season-ending achilles injury in the first quarter on Thanksgiving Day against Rutgers at the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas.
• In the season opener, Alexander (20 points, four steals) was the first Commodore in more than eight years to finish with 20+ points and 4+ steals in a game. The last Vanderbilt player to pull off the feat was Jence Rhoads when she went for 21 and 5 against Arkansas on March 4, 2010.

Looking Astern
• No. 23 Arkansas made 14 3s Sunday inside Memorial Gymnasium and raced past Vanderbilt 100-66.
• Freshman Koi Love scored 20 to go along with nine rebounds for the Dores and senior Mariella Faosula scored 14 to go along with her seven rebounds. Jordyn Cambridge had eight rebounds and six assists and Kiara Pearl had 10 points.
• “That’s what great teams do. There’s a reason why South Carolina is a national championship team and there’s a reason why Arkansas is a team that’s going to make a deep run in the tournament and a top-25 team. They make you pay.” ­— head coach Stephanie White

On Deck
• Vanderbilt hits the road for the first time in nearly three weeks when the Commodores take a bus trip to Tuscaloosa. Tip off at Alabama on Sunday is scheduled for 2 p.m.
• Upon returning home, Vandy will host its fourth-straight home game against a ranked opponent, Thursday, Jan. 30­. Tip off against arch rival and 23rd-ranked Tennessee is set for 8 p.m.

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