Dec. 31, 2014
Teams: Vanderbilt (8-4) vs. No. 5/8 Texas A&M (12-2)
Day, Date: Friday, Jan. 2
Tip-off time: 7 p.m. (CT)
Site: Reed Arena (College Station, Texas)
Radio: 560 AM & 95.9 FM
Viewing: SEC Network Plus (online)
Equipped with a mostly-healthy roster, the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team opens SEC play on Friday, traveling to College Station, Texas, to take on No. 5/8 Texas A&M. The Commodores enter the game with momentum after posting one of their most impressive wins of the season on Monday night — a 66-62 victory over RV/No. 24 James Madison. The victory gave Vanderbilt a nice shot of momentum as the Commodores head into conference play. But Vanderbilt will certainly have a stiff test against the Aggies, who have roared out to a 12-2 start while climbing to No. 5 in the AP poll. Texas A&M opened the season with 11 consecutive wins before dropping two straight games, including a surprising 70-49 loss to Washington on Monday. The Aggies then bounced back with a win over North Texas on Wednesday night. Here are a few storylines surrounding Friday’s contest:
l FEELING BETTER BY THE DAY: The Commodores were frequently short-handed during December due to a series of injuries. But Vanderbilt was close to full strength on Monday night, when Audrey-Ann Caron Goudreau and Marqu’es Webb both returned to action and helped fuel the Commodores’ 66-62 victory over James Madison. Webb played just eight minutes, but had five points and four rebounds in her first game since Nov. 30. Caron-Goudreau, who had missed the previous three games after sustaining a concussion in practice, finished with four points and a team-high nine rebounds in 31 minutes of action. Audrey-Ann’s twin sister, Khalèann, has still yet to see her first action of the season while recovering from an ankle injury.
l TRADITION OF STRONG STARTS: During head coach Melanie Balcomb’s tenure, the Commodores have posted an 8-4 record in their SEC openers. They’ve started conference play with victories in each of the past two years and six of the past eight. … Vanderbilt has posted a 20-5 record in SEC openers since the 1989-90 season.
l AGGIES STAYING BUSY: Texas A&M’s stamina is being seriously tested this week, as Friday’s game against Vanderbilt marks the Aggies’ third game in the span of five days. The busy stretch continues Sunday, when Texas A&M visits Arkansas for its fourth game in six days.
l TEXAS A&M’S SEASON TO DATE: When the Aggies opened the season with 11 straight victories, the streak was just one win shy of matching the school’s best-ever start and also tying the longest win streak in team history. … Texas A&M suffered its first loss with a 67-65 setback against No. 3-ranked Texas on Dec. 21, followed by a stunning 70-49 loss at Washington on Dec. 29. The loss to Washington ended A&M’s streak of 25 straight victories against unranked foes. The Aggies snapped their brief losing skid on Wednesday night with a lopsided win over North Texas, 75-38. … Texas A&M’s 11-game, season-opening win streak was highlighted by a 63-59 win over Duke on Nov. 30, when the Devils were ranked No. 8 in the nation. … Texas A&M opened the season with an impressive victory over then-No. 18 DePaul in the first round of the Maggie Dixon Classic, and the Aggies went on to win the tournament.
l SCOUTING THE AGGIES: The Aggies’ roster features two of the top players in the SEC — Courtney Walker and Courtney Williams — who were preseason First Team and Second Team All-SEC selections, respectively. Walker, a 5-8 junior guard, is leading the Aggies in scoring this season at 15.0 points per game and is shooting 45 percent from the floor. Williams, a a 6-1 junior guard/forward, ranks second on the team in both scoring (13.5 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg). … Achiri Ade is the team’s top rebounder, averaging 7.3 per contest. … Texas A&M is shooting 45 percent from the field, which ranks in the SEC. (Vanderbilt is third at 44.9 percent). … The Aggies are limiting opponents to 31.4 percent shooting this season, which is best mark in the SEC.
l SIZING UP THE SERIES: Friday’s game marks the sixth all-time match-up between the Commodores and the Aggies, with Vanderbilt owning a 4-1 lead in the series, including holding a 2-1 edge since Texas A&M joined the conference. … Vanderbilt is 1-1 against the Aggies in games played in College Station. … Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb is 2-1 against A&M since arriving at VU. … The most recent contest in the series was last season, when Vanderbilt used a pair of late free throws by Morgan Batey to beat the Aggies, 71-69, in battle of Top-20 ranked teams at Memorial Gym on Feb. 2 (More details below). … The series dates back to the 1995-96 season, when Vanderbilt posted a 97-78 win in Nashville. The Commodores registered another 19-point win over the Aggies the following season, 78-59, in College Station … Texas A&M’s lone victory in the series came during the 2012-13 season, when the Aggies won 60-52 in College Station. Vanderbilt avenged that defeat later in the season with a 61-51 win in Nashville.
l ELITE COACHES: Friday’s match-up will feature two of the SEC’s most successful coaches: Vanderbilt’s Melanie Balcomb and Texas A&M’s Gary Blair, who have combined for 1,132 wins in their careers. … Blair ranks No. 2 among SEC coaches with 684 career wins, and Balcomb ranks No. 3 with 448. (Georgia’s Andy Landers is No. 1 in the SEC with 937 career wins). … Balcomb has posted 285 wins at Vanderbilt, which ranks No. 2 among SEC coaches at his/her current school. Blair has won 276 games at Texas A&M, which ranks third in the SEC. (Landers has 855 wins at Georgia to lead the list).
l LOOKING BACK: In last season’s matchup between the Commodores and the Aggies on Feb. 2, Vanderbilt’s Morgan Batey knocked down two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining to lift Vanderbilt to a 71-69 victory at Memorial Gym. Batey finished with a career-high 17 points. … Coming into the game, Vanderbilt was ranked No. 16 in the AP poll and No. 18 in the USA Today poll. Texas A&M was ranked No. 17/15. … It was the first road SEC loss of the season for the Aggies, who came into the game tied with South Carolina for first place in the conference. … Batey finished 5-of-7 from the floor and 7-of-7 from the foul line while easily surpassing her previous career high of 11 points. She also pulled down a team-high six rebounds. … Texas A&M’s Karla Gilbert, who finished with a game-high 26 points, tied the score at 69-all when she converted a three-point play with 10 seconds left. … Batey was fouled on the Commodores’ next possession, and hit both free throws. The Aggies then had one final chance, but Jordan Jones’ desperation shot from long range bounced off the rim at the buzzer. … It was Vanderbilt’s fourth home win over ranked foe of the season. … Batey provided a series of pivotal plays in the final three minutes, scoring nine of Vanderbilt’s final 11 points, including going 5-of-5 at the foul line in that stretch. … Christina Foggie, the SEC’s leading scorer, added 14 points and Jasmine Lister had 11 for the Commodores.
l COMMODORES GET PAST JAMES MADISON: In their most recent game, the Commodores edged RV/No. 24 James Madison, 66-62, at Memorial Gym on Monday night. … The Dukes (9-2) came into the night on a five-game winning streak, but it was the Commodores (8-4) — and Jasmine Jenkins in particular — who made the big plays in the final minute. Jenkins made a contested jumper with 51 seconds left — her first basket of the night — to give Vanderbilt a 64-62 lead, then pulled down a defensive rebound after JMU’s Ashley Perez missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 11 seconds remaining. Jenkins hit the game-clinching free throw with eight seconds left. … The game featured 15 lead changes and 12 ties. … Rachel Bell scored 14 points to lead Vanderbilt. Rebekah Dahlman added 12 points and Heather Bowe had 10 for the Commodores, who were bolstered by the return of post players Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau and Marqu’es Webb after they had both been sidelined for much of the month. … JMU maintained a narrow lead for much of the second half, and led 54-50 after a basket by Perez with 7:57 to go. But Bell hit a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to one with 7:48 to go, and Caron-Goudreau followed with a layup to put Vanderbilt on top. Bell then capped an 8-0 run with another 3-pointer to give Vanderbilt a four-point cushion. .
