Dec. 18, 2016
Sunday was filled with career highs for the Vanderbilt women, but the Commodores endured a scary moment, too.
Christa Reed scored 25 points, Erin Whalen added 23 and LeaLea Carter had 18 — new career highs for all three — to help the Commodores extend their winning streak to nine games with an 89-57 victory over Tennessee Tech at Memorial Gym. Whalen also pulled down a career-best 11 rebounds for Vanderbilt (10-1). Yaktavia Hickson led all scorers with 31 points for Tennessee Tech (3-8).
The Commodores played much of the second half without senior star Marqu’es Webb, who was taken off the floor on a stretcher after a collision. The extent of Webb’s injury was not known after the game, and head coach Stephanie White said the team would have more information on Monday after Webb was evaluated.
Vanderbilt owned a 17-16 lead after the first quarter, but then dominated the next 10 minutes, outscoring Tennessee Tech 28-6 to carry a 45-22 lead into the half.
The Commodores — who were playing their first game since Dec. 8 — opened the second quarter with a 15-2 run and finished 9-of-15 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the foul line during the period. The Commodores capped the quarter with a no-look pass from Cierra Walker to Whalen for a layup in the final minute.
Vanderbilt, which came into the game as the SEC leaders in 3-point percentage and ranked No. 2 in the conference in free throw percentage, went 18-of-21 from the foul line (85.7 percent) and 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) from 3-point range in the win.
The game was a homecoming for Tennessee Tech first-year head coach Kim Rosamond, who was an assistant coach at Vanderbilt for nine years.
Reed scored her 25 points while going 10-of-12 from the floor. She also pulled down six rebounds. Carter, a freshman, was 8-of-12 from the floor and had seven rebounds. Carter’s 18 points easily surpassed her previous season high of seven, which she had done twice this season.
Vanderbilt now turns its attention to Wednesday’s home game against No. 8-ranked Louisville.
