Feb. 27, 2015
Teams: Vanderbilt (14-14, 5-10) at Tennessee (24-4, 14-1)
Day, Date: Sunday, March 1
Tip-off time: 4 p.m. (CT)
Site: Thompson-Boling Arena (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Radio: 560 AM & 95.9 FM
TV: SEC Network
The Vanderbilt women (14-14, 5-10) have a chance to make history on Sunday — and perhaps make a very important move in the conference standings, too. Traveling to Knoxville to face No. 6/6 Tennessee (24-4, 14-1), the Commodores are seeking their first-ever victory on the Lady Vols’ home floor, where they own an 0-29 all-time record. But the bigger motivation for the Commodores is this: They come into the game in need of a victory in order to have any chance of avoiding the play-in round at next week’s SEC Tournament. (Although a win on Sunday doesn’t guarantee that Vanderbilt won’t be in the play-in round, it would at least open up the mathematical possibility of that happening). Vanderbilt is currently in a three-way tie for 10th place, but the Commodores are positioned to be the No. 12 seed for the tournament based on the conference’s tie-breaking formula. Vanderbilt needs to climb to the No. 10 seed to avoid the play-in round, which features the bottom four teams (seeds No. 11-14). The Commodores, who fell to Auburn at home on Thursday, enter Sunday’s game having lost two straight game and six of their past eight. Tennessee is coming off a 70-59 road win over Georgia on Sunday. That victory was a nice bounce-back performance for the Lady Vols after they suffered their first SEC loss on Thursday night, falling to No. 2/2 South Carolina. Here’s a look at a few of the storylines surrounding Sunday’s game:
lCHALLENGE AFTER CHALLENGE: Sunday’s game against Tennessee represents the ninth time this season that the Commodores have lined up against a ranked opponent, and will be Vanderbilt’s fourth game against a Top-10 foe. And that stat only tells part of the story. All told, the Commodores have played five games against teams that are ranked among the Top-10 in RPI (No. 2 Tennessee, No. 4 South Carolina, No. 5 UConn, No. 9 Arizona State and No. 10 Kentucky) and a total of 11 games against teams ranked among the Top-40 in RPI. Not surprisingly, the Commodores’ strength of schedule is ranked No. 2 in the nation (according to RPIratings.com through Feb. 24). Six of the eight ranked teams that Vanderbilt has faced can be still found in this week’s Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls. This list includes: No. 2/2 South Carolina, No. 6/6 Tennessee, No. 11/13 Mississippi State, No. 12/12 Texas A&M and No. 13/15 Kentucky. Although Vanderbilt owns a 1-7 record against ranked opponents — with the victory being a 78-62 rout over previously-unbeaten Mississippi State on Jan. 19 — the Commodores have defeated five teams that are ranked among the Top-45 in RPI. The list includes wins over No. 23 James Madison, No. 29 Mississippi State, No. 30 Green Bay, No. 37 Minnesota and No. 43 Arkansas. (Note: RPI rankings in the above stats are according to NCAA.com).
lSEEDING CHART: The Commodores will enter next week’s SEC Tournament in a rare underdog role. Since the arrival of head coach Melanie Balcomb in 2002, the Commodores have gone into the tournament as the No. 6 seed or higher in nine of the past 12 seasons. Vanderbilt has been one of the tournament’s top four seeds a total of 12 times since 1990, including five times during the Balcomb era (2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010). Vanderbilt’s lowest-ever SEC tournament seeding was No. 9 in 1999. Although Vanderbilt has never won an SEC regular-season title in the program’s history, the Commodores have finished sixth place or higher in 26 of the past 33 years. Vanderbilt has captured three tournament titles during the Balcomb era — 2004, 2007 and 2009 — and has advanced to the semifinals eight times since she arrived in Nashville.
lDOES SHE EVER MISS?: Marqu’es Webb is shooting 58.5 percent from the floor this season — and in the last four games, she’s done even better than that. The sophomore post player is shooting 66.7 percent (16-of-24) during that four-game stretch, while averaging 10.2 points per game. She had 13 points and nine rebounds in Thursday’s loss to Auburn, narrowly missing what would have been her second straight double-double. Webb has been slowed by injuries throughout the season — including missing four games in December — but has showed flashes of just what a dominating player she can be. In the five games this season in which she has logged 25 minutes or more of playing time, Webb is averaging 12.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while shooting 63.6 percent (21-of-33) from the floor. She posted double-doubles in three of those games. The nagging injuries have caused Webb’s playing time to be limited to 15 minutes or less in seven games.
lSCOUTING TENNESSEE: Although Tennessee lost one of its biggest stars when Isabelle Harrison went down with a season-ending injury last month, the Lady Vols still have plenty of weapons. The UT roster features three players who are averaging double figures in scoring — Cierra Burdick (11.0 ppg), Ariel Massengale (10.8) and Bashaara Graves (10.4) — along with the SEC leader in steals, Andraya Carter (2.5 steals per game). … Burdick is the team’s leading rebounder, and ranks sixth in the conference, at 8.1 rpg. … The Lady Vols rank fourth in the conference in scoring (72.2 ppg), fourth in field goal percentage (43.1) and third in 3-point percentage (33.3). Tennessee leads the SEC in free throws percentage at 74.9 percent. … Defensively, Tennessee is holding opponents to 55.6 points per game, which ranks fifth in the SEC, and is limiting opponents to 36.9 percent from 3-point range, which also ranks fifth in the conference. … UT ranks sixth in blocked shots (3.8 bpg) and eighth in steals (9.5). … The Lady Vols are strong on the glass, ranking second in rebounding (42.2 per game) and second in rebounding margin (+7.8).
lSIZING UP THE SERIES: Sunday’s game marks the 73rd all-time match-up between the Commodores and the Lady Vols, with Tennessee owning a 63-9 lead in the series. … Vanderbilt is 0-29 against Tennessee on the Lady Vols’ home floor. … The most recent contest between the rivals came earlier this season, when UT downed Vanderbilt 57-49 in Nashville on Jan. 5. … Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb is 3-25 against Tennessee. … Vanderbilt has defeated UT in three of the past six seasons (2008-09, 2011-12 and 2013-14), with all three wins coming in Nashville. … The series dates back to the 1979-80 season.
lUPDATE ON THE LADY VOLS: Tennessee downed Georgia, 70-59, on Sunday afternoon while effectively bouncing back from Thursday’s road loss to No. 2/2 South Carolina, which was the Lady Vols’ first SEC defeat. … The loss to the Gamecocks ended UT’s 20-game SEC winning streak, which spanned more than a calendar year. … The Lady Vols are 8-3 against ranked teams this season, including 5-3 vs. top-10 squads. … UT is 15-1 vs. unranked opponents, with the lone loss coming at Chattanooga (67-63 on Nov. 26), a team that now is ranked No. 18/19. … Tennessee has had winning streaks of four games (Nov. 14 through Nov. 25), 11 games (Dec. 3 through Jan. 18) and eight games (Jan. 22 through Feb. 22).
lLOOKING BACK: When Vanderbilt hosted Tennessee on Jan. 5 at Memorial Gym, the Lady Vols used a game-high 19 points from Andraya Carter to down the Commodores, 57-49. Tennessee’s Ariel Massengale added 12 points. Vanderbilt freshman Christa Reed scored a team-high 13 points and fellow freshman Khalèann Caron-Goudreau had 10 for the Commodores. Vanderbilt finished 7-of-17 from 3-point range, but the Commodores were just 9-of-31 (29 percent) from inside the arc, and their 10-of-16 performance from the foul line (62 percent) didn’t help either. The Lady Vols limited Vanderbilt to just 17 points in the first half, and held the Commodores to 33 percent shooting for the game. Jordan Reynolds scored 11 points and Cierra Burdick scored 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Isabelle Harrison, the former Hillsboro standout, was limited to three points. The Lady Vols went 18-of-22 from the foul line and won the rebounding battle, 39-27. Vanderbilt made only six field goals in the opening 20 minutes, but the Commodores still found themselves within striking distance at the half, trailing 25-17. Tennessee then opened the second half with a 10-3 run and eventually owned a 14-point cushion, 39-25, with 8:40 mark to go. But Vanderbilt put together a late charge to make things interesting. The Commodores trimmed the deficit to eight points, and had a chance to move even closer when Reed got free for a 3-pointer from the wing with 2:23 to go. But her shot was off the mark, and Tennessee never let Vanderbilt get closer than seven the rest of the way.
lMOST RECENT GAME: VU FALLS TO AUBURN IN HOME FINALE: Playing their final home game of the season, the Commodores lost to Aurbun, 70-58, on Thursday night. Auburn’s Jazmine Jones, who came into the night averaging 2.5 points per game, went 10-of-11 from the floor and scored a game-high 21 points to lead the last-place Tigers to the win. Jones also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and had three steals. It was the second straight win at Memorial Gym for the Tigers, who had lost 21 consecutive games in the series prior to last season’s win in Nashville. Auburn’s Brandy Montgomery finished with 16 points and Katie Frerking had 13 points and seven rebounds. Marqu’es Webb led Vanderbilt with 13 points and nine rebounds before fouling out with 2:20 to play. Freshman Rachel Bell added 13 points and fellow freshman Paris Kea had 12. Vanderbilt owned an 11-point lead just past the midway mark of the first half, but the Tigers put together a 21-6 run to carry a 30-26 lead into the half. Auburn maintained the lead throughout the final 20 minutes, holding off a late Vanderbilt rally. Back-to-back 3-pointers by freshman Rachel Bell enabled the Commodores to pull within 61-56 with 2:42 to go, but the comeback bid stalled there.
lTHE TRADITION CONTINUES: Since the arrival of head coach Melanie Balcomb, the Commodores have finished among the top-20 nationally in field goal percentage in 11 of the past 12 seasons — and they’re on pace to do it again. Vanderbilt is shooting 45.4 percent from the floor this season, which ranks 13th in the country and second in the SEC. Sophomore Marqu’es Webb is shooting a team-high 58.5 percent, and four of her teammates are also above 50 percent: Heather Bowe (54.0), Morgan Batey (52.9), Kristen Gaffney (50.5) and Rayte’a Long (50.0). All five players have seen action in 20 or more games. The Commodores have ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation on field goal percentage six times during the Balcomb era, including leading the country at 51.3 percent in 2002-03.
l‘DOZEN’ IT FEEL GREAT? With March Madness around the corner, it’s certainly worth noting that head coach Melanie Balcomb has led the Commodores to the NCAA Tournament in each of her 12 seasons since arriving at Vanderbilt. She is one of only six coaches to have done so each year during that span. The others are: Geno Auriemma (Connecticut), Tara VanDerveer (Stanford), Joanne P. McCallie (Mich. State/Duke), Muffet McGraw (Notre Dame) and Andy Landers (Georgia). Overall, the Commodores have made the NCAA tournament in each of the past 15 seasons and 25 of the past 26. They have made 26 total appearances, which ranks third among the SEC teams behind only Tennessee and Georgia.
lINJURY REPORT: With her team slowed by injuries throughout the season, head coach Melanie Balcomb has had the luxury of having all 13 of her players available for only two games this year (which came in January against Tennessee and LSU). Redshirt sophomore Kendall Shaw and true freshmen Christa Reed and Khaléann Caron-Goudreau have each been out of action for much of the SEC schedule, and a total of seven Vanderbilt players — more than half the roster — have missed time this season due to injuries, illness or other reasons. Khaléann Caron-Goudreau sat out the first 12 games while recovering from an ankle injury and has now missed the past 13 games while dealing with a back injury. Reed and Shaw have both been sidelined the past 12 games with ankle injuries. Others who have missed multiple games include junior Heather Bowe (who was unavailable for the first eight games while serving a suspension for violation of academic policy), sophomore Marqu’es Webb (who missed four games in December with a knee injury) and Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau (who missed three games in December after sustaining a concussion in practice and then sat out the game against Florida due to illness). Freshman Rachel Bell and redshirt sophomore Kristen Gaffney have missed one game each with illness.
lSTARTING TO SETTLE IN: The Vanderbilt starting lineup was in flux for the first half of the season — with eight different combinations used in the first 14 games — but the changes have slowed down over the past few weeks, and head coach Melanie Balcomb has used only two combinations for the past 14 games. Morgan Batey, Heather Bowe, Rebekah Dahlman, Jasmine Jenkins and Marqu’es Webb have started the past seven games. Before that, Dahlman, Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau, Jenkins, Bowe and Batey had formed the starting five for seven straight games. All told, 10 of the 13 players on the Vanderbilt roster have seen their names in the starting lineup in various games this season.
lWORKING FOR THE SWAT TEAM: Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau has given the Commodores a new element this season. The 6-3 post player from Canada has notched a team-high 27 blocked shots, which is more than the entire Vanderbilt roster compiled last season (24). In Vanderbilt’s win over Arkansas on Jan. 22, Caron-Goudreau finished with five blocked shots, becoming the first Vanderbilt player to block five or more shots in a game game since Liz Sherwood had six against LSU on Jan. 10, 2008. The Commodores have 66 blocked shots for the season for an average of 2.4 per game. That’s a huge jump from last season, when the Commodores ranked last in the country (343rd) with an average of 0.8 per game for the year. Freshman guard Paris Kea, who is among the shortest players Vanderbilt roster at 5-9, ranks second on the team with 10.
lDAHLMAN DOING WORK: Vanderbilt freshman Rebekah Dahlman endured a tough night in Thursday’s loss to Auburn, finishing 1-of-10 from the floor and scoring four points. But prior to the loss to Auburn, Dahlman had put together a four-game stretch in which she averaged 14.7 points per contest and shot 58 percent (11-of-19) from 3-point range. She scored a team-high 18 points in last week’s at Florida, hitting a season-high five 3-pointers while playing all 45 minutes of the overtime contest. Her emergence in recent games is a crucial development for the young Commodores, who have no seniors on the roster. Last season, Vanderbilt had two unquestioned leaders — seniors Christina Foggie and Jasmine Lister — who combined for 45.7 percent of the team’s scoring and accounted for 80.1 percent of the team’s 3-pointers. (Foggie and Lister scored 1,015 of VU’s 2,218 total points, and produced 133 of Vanderbilt’s 166 three-pointers). Through 26 games this season, a total of nine players — among the 13 on the roster — have either led the team in scoring or tied for game-high honors.
lGOING AWAY FROM THE 3s: The Commodores connected for a season-high eight 3-pointers during last Thursday’s overtime victory against Florida, but the hot shooting didn’t carry over into Sunday’s game, when Vanderbilt finished just 2-of-7 from 3-point range. The Commodores, traditionally one of best outside shooting teams in the conference, are averaging only 3.3 three-pointers per game in SEC play this season, which ranks 11th in the conference. Vanderbilt has attempted nine or fewer 3-pointers in seven SEC games, including four games in which they attempted five or fewer.
